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Zimbabwe's Elections 2013 - Index of Articles
Komichi
denied bail again
Helen Kadirire, Daily News
September 24, 2013
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2013/09/24/komichi-denied-bail-again
MDC chief election
officer Morgen Komichi has been denied bail for the fourth time
by Harare magistrate Tendai Mahwe.
Komichi is accused
of fraud and contravening the Electoral
Act, but denies the charge.
He was arrested
after he allegedly
presented to Zec, a ballot paper that had been found in a dustbin
at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC), the electoral
body’s command centre.
Komichi had
applied for bail under changed circumstances. However, Mahwe ruled
that the State had a strong case against him and rejected his fresh
application.
State prosecutor
Michael Mugabe told the court that the evidence led so far by the
three State witnesses has not diluted the State case.
“If admitted
to bail after the witnesses’ evidence, the State believes
that this will lead the accused person (Komichi) to abscond,”
Mugabe said. “At this stage it will be improper to admit him
to bail.”
Mahwe concurred
with the State that it would not be in the best interest of justice
to grant Komichi bail as he was likely to abscond his trial.
The trial continues
with Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s chief legal officer Shamiso
Chahuruva saying that she cannot prove if Komichi had opened the
grey envelope that contained the ballot papers.
Chahuruva, who
was being cross-examined by Alec Muchadehama, said that she cannot
speak on behalf of the person who gave Komichi the ballot papers.
“I am
not able to say whether the person who gave Mr Komichi the packet
had opened it, however, in the meeting he said that the packet was
sealed and he had opened it out of curiosity,” Chahuruva said.
Muchadehama
went on to suggest that Chahuruva and the commission were lying
and building stories against Komichi.
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