Brutal murder of Chinese nationals caught on CCTV

CNN has obtained what it describes as graphic CCTV footage of a recent attack on a Chinese-owned textile warehouse in Lusaka which left three Chinese nationals dead. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, three men entered the Chinese-owned Blue Star clothing factory on 24 May and attacked the owners. The attack occurred during a controversial crackdown on Chinese businesses accused of discriminating against Zambians. Chinese factory managers have been accused of forcing employees to sleep at work to stop the spread of coronavirus. Police said the attackers pretended to be potential customers. The footage shows them beating two men and one woman to death for 17 minutes before dragging their bodies into the adjoining warehouse. That's where the footage ends, but police said they then dismembered the corpses and used flammable materials to torch the building. Legalbrief reports that all three suspects have been arrested. There are an estimated 22 000 Chinese nationals living in Zambia, operating 280 companies. Beijing owns about 44% of Zambia's debt, which has led to fear among some Zambians that China has too much control over the country. In the days leading up to the murder, Lusaka Mayor Miles Sampa had accused Chinese bosses in the capital of ‘slavery reloaded,’ and reminded the public in a video posted on his Facebook account that ‘black Zambians did not originate coronavirus … it originated in China’.