Back to Index

Police intend to arrest human rights lawyer
MISA-Zimbabwe
November 10, 2008

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe chapter has received reports on the police's intensions to arrest a human rights lawyer, Harrison Nkomo, who was representing Phillip Warington Taylor, a British journalist who skipped bail a week ago.

Taylor was expected in court on 5 November 2008 failed to turn up after informing Nkomo through a text message that he had already left the country.

Nkomo later told Harare Magistrate Catherine Chimanda that Taylor had already left the country and was in South Africa.

It is reportedly said that the police want to charge Nkomo with defeating the course of justice under Section 184 subsection 1 paragraph A of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

The police officers from the Law and Order section reportedly visited Nkomo's offices in Harare looking for the lawyer who was reported to be out of town.

Background

Nkomo was representing Taylor who was arrested on 30 October 2008 by members of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) at Harare International Airport on allegations of practicing journalism in Zimbabwe without accreditation. He was arrested aboard his flight which was about to take off after he had spent 30 days in Zimbabwe.

Taylor denied practising journalism while in the country for 30 days and was granted bail by a Harare magistrate.

Visit the MISA-Zimbabwe 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