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Statement on the arrest of the Hon Mr Justice F C Blackie (LRF)
Trustees of the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF)
September 16, 2002

In an action chillingly reminiscent of the tactics of the apartheid régime, the Hon Mr Justice F C Blackie, a recently retired judge of the High Court, was arrested at his home at 4 a.m. on Friday 13 September by law enforcement agents. The allegation against him ,it seems, is one of contravening the Prevention of Corruption Act, alternatively defeating or obstructing the course of justice. This allegation arises out of the way he is said to have disposed of a criminal case before his retirement.

Despite an order being given by a High Court judge for him to be brought immediately before the High Court, the police at several stations refused to accept the order, claiming that they did not know his whereabouts. He was only brought before the court the following day. Even if there is evidence to support the allegations against him, the arrest of Mr Justice Blackie raises serious concerns.

In the first place, it was not necessary to arrest him at all on such a charge. It would have been quite sufficient to have issued a summons. The courts in this country have repeatedly stated that arrest should only be resorted to when it is necessary.

Secondly, the time and manner of his arrest, and the subsequent attempts to conceal his whereabouts and to prevent him from being brought to court, are regrettably typical of the way in which perceived opponents of the government are treated. On more than one occasion people have been arrested and so treated and later released without any charge being brought.

In more general terms, it seems to be increasingly common for people to be arrested on a Friday so that the police can detain them for the weekend before bringing them to court. This appears to be no coincidence, but deliberate policy. It is wholly indefensible.

We wish to place on record our increasingly deep concern at the sinister manner in which law enforcement agents regularly flout their obligations to the people of Zimbabwe, whose constitutional rights are being eroded as a result.

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