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Violence, recrimination and arrests after policeman's death in Glen View - Index of articles
Human rights violations case against MDC members referred to Supreme
Court
Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC)
August 19, 2011
A Harare magistrate, Shane Kubonera has ruled that the lives of
24 MDC members who were arrested in May on false
charges of murdering a police officer are at stake and referred
their application to the Supreme Court. The 24 members raised complaints
on their initial remand in court that they had been severely assaulted
while in police custody prompting the magistrate to order the state
to carry out investigations on the complaints.
However, for
over two months now the Attorney General's Office has failed
to bring affidavits of the investigations to court. Magistrate Kubonera
today ruled that the complaints made by the MDC members were justified
and their lives were at stake. The complainants had said that their
individual rights had been infringed upon as they were assaulted
while in police custody and denied access to lawyers.
Magistrate Kubonera
further referred the matter to the Supreme Court saying he had no
jurisdiction over the matter as it was a constitutional issue.
Of the 24 members,
seven remain in remand prison while the other 17 were granted bail
in July. Those in remand are; Councillor Tungamirai Madzokera of
Ward 32, Glen View, Rebecca Mafukeni, Musarurwa, Manjoro, brothers
Stanley and Lazarus Maengahama, Standford Chitanda, and Phineas
Nhatarikwa.
Their routine
remand date was postponed to 7 September.
However, the
defence lawyers said they would file a notice for refusal of further
remand if the state failed to set a trial date on 7 September.
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