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A drunken police officer in Zambia freed 13 suspects so they could go celebrate the new year, authorities say.
Detective Inspector Titus Phiri was arrested after releasing the suspects from the Leonard Cheelo police station in the capital, Lusaka, before fleeing himself.
The 13 detainees were accused of crimes such as assault, robbery and robbery.
They are all currently fugitives and a search has been launched to find them.
Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said Phiri, “in a drunken state, forcibly confiscated the cell keys” from officer Serah Banda on New Year’s Eve.
“Subsequently, Detective Inspector Phiri opened the male and female cells and ordered the suspects to leave, indicating that they were free to cross into the new year,” he said.
“Of the 15 suspects in custody, 13 escaped. Following the incident, the officer fled the scene.”
Phiri has yet to comment on the allegations.
Reacting to the incident, former presidential spokesman and lawyer Dickson Jere wrote on Facebook: “I laugh every time I imagine the scenario. Funny! But then I remembered a similar incident in 1997.”
On New Year’s Eve 1997, the late and controversial High Court judge Kabazo Chanda ordered the release of 53 suspects, some of whom were considered dangerous by police.
Mr Chanda was bothered that the suspects had been arrested as early as 1992 but had not yet appeared in court.
“Justice is delayed, it is justice denied,” he said.
