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Abuse of the Justice System Continues in Zimbabwe
International Bar Association (IBA)
July 02, 2003

Two events in the Zimbabwean justice system this week demonstrate the continuing misuse of legal rights and protections.The trial of Justice Blackie, due to proceed in front of international observers including Justice Kayode Eso, of the International Bar Association (IBA), was dropped by the State on the day the trial was due to start.

The abandonment of the trial appeared to confirm suspicions that the State had pursued unsubstantiated allegations against Justice Blackie in order to threaten him and tarnish his reputation as a respected judge, and undermine the security of his fellow judges. The months of stress to which he and his family were submitted began when police arrested him unnecessarily, and imprisoned him illegally.

There is also some doubt as to whether Justice Blackie’s ordeal is over. The IBA noted with concern the comment of a government spokesperson that following the withdrawal of the charges, the Attorney-General may decide to restart the process by issuing him with a summons.

In yet another case against a respected member of the legal profession, Gugulethu Moyo, a Harare-based lawyer, has been charged with inciting ‘unnamed persons’ to disobey police instructions. ‘The very words of the charge make clear how far this is from an act of justice’, said Mark Ellis, the IBA’s Executive Director. ‘Our concern in this case is underlined by the facts that the law being looked to here is the Public Order and Security Act, a recent and particularly repressive piece of legislation from the Mugabe regime, and that Ms Moyo works for one of the few remaining parts of the independent media in Zimbabwe, making this an attack on the freedom of the press as well as of the legal profession.’

The allegations against Ms Moyo were reportedly made by Jocelyn Chiwenga, the wife of Lieutenant-General Constantine Chiwenga. Ms Moyo had earlier identified Mrs Chiwenga as one of a group of people who had beaten her up in a police station where she had gone to represent a colleague who was being detained. Ms Moyo’s detailed witness account of this event has been left uninvestigated and ignored by the Zimbabwean authorities.

For further information please contact:
Esther Major
Human Rights Institute Administrator
International Bar Association
271 Regent Street
London
W1B 2AQ
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7629 1206
Fax: + 44 (0)20 7409 0456
E-mail: esther.major@int-bar.org

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