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Pregnant woman refused bail after 31 Chinese accused of illegal mining in Zambia

China’s foreign ministry has expressed concern over the arrests in a Zambian copper mining town

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China’s foreign ministry says Zambia has not justified the arrest of its citizens. Photo: Handout

A pregnant woman among a group of 31 Chinese citizens accused of involvement in illegal mining in Zambia has been refused bail, according to a Chinese media report.

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The two-month pregnant woman was among five women arrested during police raids in the town of Chingola last week.

She is the newlywed wife of a translator working for a privately-owned Chinese mining firm and she only arrived in Zambia last month, according to Red Star News, an online news website run by the Chengdu Business Daily.

The report did not say if the other 30 people had been denied or granted bail.

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The woman’s husband was quoted as saying that his wife was confined with a group of other women and was in a bad condition, but he had not been able yet to visit her in jail.

The man said a bail request for his wife was refused, but the authorities did not provide him with a reason why.

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