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6 Bindura student leaders further remanded
Students Solidarity Trust
July 13, 2010

6 student activists still have to endure long and unjust persecution after their names appeared in the various witness statements given by the state witnesses on the first of this month. The students are being charged by the state, which is accusing them that on January 14 2010, the students gathered at Bindura University with the intention to incite public violence. In the students' defence which is represented by Zhawarara from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, the students had gathered to discuss the pressing issues of examinations as students were being barred from sitting for their examinations by school authorities. Zhawarara applied for the charges against the students to be dropped as the statements by the state witnesses lacked consistency and coherence. The state through its lawyer Chinyengerere claim that although the witnesses the state produced were giving conflicting testimonies from the statements they had done after the 'supposed gathering' Chinyengerere maintained that the testimonies were still valid and the charges should not be dropped.

A continued pattern of student persecution by various college authorities around the country is evident as the case surrounding these activists is on flimsy evidence and biased witnesses. It is also a continuation of a worrying trend of harassment and lack of respect for the rule of law by authorities who continue to violate students' rights to association and expression through invoking, sometimes wrongly, sections of the Public Order and Security Act [POSA]. Student activism is constantly deterred by authorities who want to control and suffocate the voices of the students.

The Students of Zimbabwe demand that the right to freedom of expression be respected. In any society there can never be a homogenous frame of mind and therefore all voices should be listened to in order to provide accurate representation of the society.

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