|
Back to Index
ZINASU
leaders finally freed on bail
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
August 07, 2009
Harare Magistrate
Munamato Mutevedzi on Friday 07 August 2009 granted bail to Zimbabwe
National Students Union (ZINASU) President Clever Bere and three
other representatives of the students union namely Kudakwashe Chakabva
from the Harare Polytechnic, Archieford Mudzengi from the Zimbabwe
School of Mines, and Brian Rugondo from the University
of Zimbabwe, who were arrested
on Wednesday 05 August 2009 for allegedly contravening Section 37
(1) (a) (i) of the Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:25 by participating
in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breach of
peace or bigotry.
Magistrate Mutevedzi
ordered the four students who were represented by Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR) member Jeremiah Bamu to pay US$30 each in
bail money and to report once every week on Fridays to the Law and
Order Section at the Harare Central Police Station. The Magistrate
also ordered the four to continue residing at their given residential
addresses and remanded them to 21 August 2009.
However, the release
of the student representatives was not without drama as prosecutors
refused to handle the matter.
Officials in the vetting
office at the Rotten Magistrate Courts initially referred the students
lawyer, Bamu to Prosecutor Teddy Kamuriwo, who then referred them
to Jonathan Murombedzi, the area public prosecutor who in turn referred
the matter to Tawanda Zvekare, the head of litigation in the Attorney
General's Office.
Zvekare also passed on
the matter to one Mr Dube, who then referred Bamu and the students
back to the Harare Central Police Station.
ZLHR is reliably informed
that Dube pointed out a number of deficiencies in the State case
to the investigating officers. Dube reportedly told the investigating
officers that giving out T-shirts to people as alleged by the State
doesn't constitute an offence and that the State witnesses
who are security personnel at the University of Zimbabwe are not
the students whose peace was disturbed as alleged in the Form 242.
The students were finally
brought to court around 16:00 PM, where they appeared before Magistrate
Mutevedzi who then granted them bail.
Visit the ZLHR
fact
sheet
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
