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Treason charges against Munyaradzi Gwisai & others - Index of articles
Unidentified
people interrogate activists as they remain in police custody
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
February 22, 2011
The 46 activists, who were arrested
at the weekend, continue to be detained at Harare Central Police
Station after the police failed to take them to court on Tuesday
22 February 2011.
The police failed
to take the detainees to court after formally charging seven of
them, who include former Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP
for Highfield Munyaradzi Gwisai and economic and social justice
activist Hopewell Gumbo.
The seven activists
were charged with contravening section 22 (2) (a) (i) of the Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act, that is attempting to overthrow
the government by unconstitutional means.
39 of the detainees
whom the police had undertaken to release from custody had not yet
been released by 18:00 hrs on Tuesday.
The detention
of the 46 activists is unlawful because the 48-hour period prescribed
in the Criminal
Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) has now passed.
The police also
indicated that they would retain Gwisai, Gumbo and other detainees
in police custody for the fourth night without providing any explanation
for their action.
On Monday 21
February 2011, the police spent the whole day "vetting"
the detainees, leaving Gwisai to undergo the vetting exercise at
the end. Lawyers were barred from being present in the room where
each detainee was being interviewed.
Submissions
had been made to the police from the CID Law and Order Section at
the Harare Central Police Station to release those detainees who
were just innocent bystanders and others who were working in the
same building, who had been caught up during the raid on Saturday
19 February 2011 when the detainees were arrested, but this fell
on deaf ears.
At least eight
of the detainees including International
Socialist Organisation (ISO) members, students, and Gwisai were
unlawfully removed from the cells in batches on the first two nights
of their detention by people who were not from the CID Law and Order
Section for "interrogation" during which they were severely
beaten.
The police also
denied medical attention for the detainees.
Lawyers were
still attending at Harare Central Police Station last night.
Visit
the ZLHR fact
sheet
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