 Hichilema's arrest was the subject of the episode of Al Jazeera's The Stream TV program titled "Is Zambia's democracy in danger" which aired on 30 May 2017.Zambia's first president Kenneth Kaunda was turned away by prison officials when he visited Hichilema in Prison.Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance (South Africa) was also turned away by Zambia Police when he came to Zambia to attend Hichilema's court appearance, he was not allowed to disembark from the plane, had his phone confiscated and was roughed up.