|
Back to Index
Mtetwa,
PM employees denied bail, condemned to languish prison
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
March 20, 2013
Harare Provincial
Magistrate, Marehwanazvo Gofa on Wednesday 20 March 2013 condemned
prominent human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa to languish in prison
after she dismissed her bail application together with that of four
of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s aides.
Magistrate Gofa
remanded Mtetwa in custody to 3 April 2013 after dismissing her
bail application. The Magistrate ruled that the human rights lawyer
would interfere with police investigations if freed on bail.
Mtetwa’s
lawyer, Advocate Thabani Mpofu had filed an application on Tuesday
19 March 2013 seeking the admission of Mtetwa to bail of $100. The
lawyer had also offered to surrender some title deeds to one of
Mtetwa’s immovable property as security after stressing that
her client was a suitable candidate for bail as she had not committed
an offence and had no criminal record to induce her to abscond from
attending court proceedings.
However, Magistrate
Gofa dismissed the application which was opposed by State prosecutors
Michael Reza and Michael Mugabe. The Magistrate also dismissed the
bail application filed by four officials working in Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai’s Office among them Thabani Mpofu, Felix
Matsinde, Councillor Warship Dumba and Mehluli Tshuma, who were
charged with contravening Section 4 of Official
Secrets Act for allegedly receiving or communicating secret
information, Section 179 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) for alleged impersonation and Section 40 (1) of the Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act for possession of articles
for criminal use. The four aides were remanded to 3 April 2013.
Magistrate Gofa
also dismissed Mpofu’s application for bail on the charges
of contravening Section 4 (1) of the Firearms Act for allegedly
failing to renew a firearm certificate and Section 28 (2) of the
Firearms Act for allegedly keeping a firearm in a non-secure place
and remanded him in custody to 27 March 2013.
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
|
