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Update on Ellen Chademana's Case
Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)
November 18, 2010

The long awaited judgment in the Ellen Chademana case will now be delivered on the 9th of December 2010. The trial of the GALZ receptionist ended on the 18th of November when she appeared before Harare Magistrate Don Ndirowei.

Chademana is facing charges of allegedly possessing pornographic pictures thereby contravening section 26(1) of the Censorship and Entertainment Control Act (Chapter10:04).She was dealt a blow last month when the state refused to grant an application for discharge, which had earlier on been filed by her lawyers. This resulted in the matter going to trial on November 12.

During the cross examination by her defence Lawyer, Jeremiah Bamu. Chademana told the court how the search began in her absence and was only called in by the police who said they only needed her to assist them with information. Adding that, she was not in possession of the alleged folder and was not aware of its contents. She also maintained that for the two years she has been working for the organization she had never come across the folder.

"To my surprise when I got to the office soon as I got off my car I was ordered to switch off my cellphone, and I was whisked into the offices. Everything was in a mess indicating that there had been a search earlier on. I was notified by the police that during the search which had been conducted in my absence, the police had found on my work station a file written Gender Minutes 2006 and 2007 which allegedly contained a pornographic picture."

At the end of the trial the defence said it would be able to make their closing submission summarising the case on the 30th of November. Meanwhile the state prosecutor Rufaro Mhandu said the state would hand in their submission on the 7th of December.

Charges levelled against Chademana arose when police armed with a search warrant On May 21 2010 ransacked the GALZ offices alleging that the organisation was in possession of dangerous drugs and pornographic material. She was subsequently arrested and detained for seven days together with a colleague Ignatius Mhambi, who was also facing similar charges but has since been acquitted.

Visit the GALZ fact sheet

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