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Update on the trial of the 'Valentine 63'
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
May 18, 2006

Having been adjourned from 16 May, the trial of the 63 WOZA women arrested on Valentine's Day was due to resume this afternoon. Instead, the accused, defence lawyers and well-wishers waited in vain for both the Magistrate and Prosecutor to appear.

Eventually, the Officer of the Court appeared to announce that the trial has been postponed to 12 June. Allegedly the Prosecutor is at a workshop and therefore was not available. None of the accused formally appeared before the Magistrate to be remanded to this date however.

WOZA is therefore obliged to continue its wait to hear if the magistrate will allow the referral to the Supreme Court. To reiterate, the defence's argument is that the law under which the women were charged contravenes the Declaration of Rights; in particular the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of assembly and association and the right to be free from inhuman treatment. Such a matter can only be determined by the Supreme Court, hence the request for a referral to that court.

Despite the State's argument that this would be a waste of the Supreme Court's time, WOZA do not agree and feel that any legislation which prevents people from exercising their freedom of expression and assembly violates those rights enshrined in our Constitution. The issue of the constitutionality of the relevant sections of the Miscellaneous Offences Act needs to be decided by the Supreme Court before any meaningful trial can take place.

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