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WOZA concerned about the safety of detained members
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
June 08, 2008

13 WOZA women and one man remain in custody ten days after being arrested on May 28th. They were participating in a demonstration calling on the government of Zimbabwe to stop the orchestrated violence in the run-up to the presidential run-off election. The women are being held at Chikurubi Prison, in the women's remand section, while the man is held at Harare Remand Prison.

On May 30 they were admitted to bail in the magistrate's court, but the State immediately indicated that they would appeal, and were given seven court days to file. The appeal will now be heard on Tuesday, June 10. However, the State has still not filed their papers, saying they will be filed on Monday, with the result that the lawyer from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights acting on their behalf has not been able to view the State's arguments opposing bail. Meanwhile all the accused appeared in the magistrate's court on Friday June 6 and were routinely remanded until June 20. It is our hope however, that the State's case against bail will fail when it is heard on the 10th, and all will be released.

The demonstration for which they were arrested took place in the context of escalating state-sponsored violence against the opposition MDC, a campaign designed to destroy party structures and intimidate voters not to support the opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai when the run-off election is held June 27th. More than 50 opposition activists have been killed, thousands have been tortured and injured and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes, making it impossible for them to vote. WOZA was protesting against this violence when they were arrested. Since their arrest the violence has increased and many more victims have poured into clinics, hospitals, and morgues, homes have been burned and families displaced.

All of the arrested face charges of participating in a public gathering with the intent to provoke public violence. Jennifer Williams faces two additional counts of causing disaffection among the police and publishing false statements prejudicial to the state. The charges are based on legislation clearly in breach of the Zimbabwean constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. If they are brought to trial, the constitutionality of these sections of the law will be challenged.

In spite of the stringent conditions which exist in Zimbabwean prisons, all the WOZA members are in good spirits and strong in their commitment to resist oppression and work for social justice. They continue to be visited and taken food. When at the prison they are permitted to eat, but on the day they were taken to court they were refused food while other prisoners were eating, because they are "political".

WOZA believes that in the current conditions no election can fairly reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people. ZANU PF was the clear loser in the March 29th elections but they continue to hold the people hostage. WOZA calls on the international community to recognize the need to find ways to stop the violence, and introduce a healing period under the auspices of an internationally-authorised transitional government. Only then will it be possible to return to a viable electoral process to determine the genuine wishes of the Zimbabwean people.

We also call on the international community to lend support to those WOZA and MOZA members brave enough to stand up publicly in their own terrorized nation to protest the violent actions of a ZANU PF government which has lost the mandate to rule.

News update
9pm - Tuesday 10 June

The 13 WOZA women and one man are spending another night in custody in remand prisons in Harare. The State's appeal against bail awarded in the magistrates court May 30 was due to be heard today.

However, the State only filed their arguments late yesterday afternoon, which meant the ZLHR lawyer representing WOZA could only submit their arguments this morning. Judge Hlatshwayo said that he needed time to read them and postponed the hearing until tomorrow.

If the State's case fails, the members should be released tomorrow. If it succeeds, WOZA will continue to press for their freedom. They are being unjustly punished without trial for exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression and assembly.

News update
Monday 16th June

Eleven of the 14 WOZA members arrested on 28th May 2008 were finally released from remand prison on bail on Friday evening (13th June) after 17 days in custody. Three members, including Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, remain in custody in Chikurubi Female Prison.

Williams and Mahlangu have been denied bail because the State claims that they will organise Kenya-style violence around the election period. The third woman was detained further because the names on her identity documents were different. Her family has now produced her marriage certificate and it is hoped that her release will be secured today.

Other than suffering from colds, stomach ailments and lice, those that have been released are fine and in good spirits. All 14 are due to appear on remand in Harare Magistrate's Court on Friday 20th June.

There is great concern at the continued detention of Williams and Mahlangu who have now been designated as 'prisoners of conscience' by Amnesty International. Although the defence is trying to appeal to the Supreme Court against the denial of bail, it is clear that the State is trying to keep them in custody until after the 27th June presidential run-off and perhaps much longer. As some prisoners at Chikurubi Female Prison have been on remand for several years without appearing on trial, these fears are not ungrounded.

Conditions in the prison are also not ideal. There is no running water at Chikurubi, meaning that all water has to be carried in by bucket from a near-by pond. Cells, blankets and all conditions are therefore very dirty due to the lack of adequate water. It is also extremely cold but attempts are being made to ensure that Williams and Mahlangu receive regulation jerseys, which are unavailable, hence must knitted by friends or relatives.

The State appears to be deliberately frustrating the work of the lawyers of these nonviolent human rights defenders. Most recently the office of Judge Ben Hlatshwayo who heard the appeal, is claiming that the matter cannot be further appealed to the Supreme Court because it originated in the Magistrate's Court. Defence lawyers are currently trying to clarify what options are now available the correct legal position.

The release of the 11 members was also only secured after several suspected delaying tactics by the State. The 14 were first taken to court at 4.30 pm on Friday 30th May, several hours after the maximum 48-hour period allowed, and obviously too late for a meaningful court hearing. The group was then remanded in custody until Saturday 31st May for a bail hearing. On the 31st, Magistrate Rusinahama granted the group bail - Jenni Williams at ZWD 10 billion and the other 13 at ZWD 5 billion each - and remanded them to 6th June. The Prosecutor, Public Mpofu, immediately indicated his intention to appeal against the Magistrate's decision and the group was further remanded in custody pending the appeal hearing.

Despite Mpofu's assurance to the group that he was only following orders and would lodge the appeal immediately, the notice of intent to appeal was only lodged on the 5th June. The date of the appeal to the High Court was set for Tuesday 10th June. Nonetheless, the State only provided the defence with their arguments at 4pm on Monday 9th June meaning that the defence was unable to submit its replies to Judge Hlatshwayo in time. The judge therefore postponed his ruling until Wednesday 11th June.

On the 11th, Judge Hlatshwayo dismissed the State's appeal against 11 of the members but ordered that Williams and Mahlangu remain in custody. The State had argued that they would organise violence during the election period, and in light of the State's zero-tolerance attitude towards pre and post-election violence (sic), they should be remanded in custody until trial.

When WOZA's lawyer and several supporters attempted to go to Chikurubi on Wednesday afternoon to inform the group of the ruling, war veterans in a ZANU PF vehicle prevented them from entering the prison complex. The supporters were told that they would only be allowed to see the WOZA prisoners 'when they were dead'. The war veterans then tried to force them to accompany them to the provincial ZANU PF headquarters in the city centre, a renowned torture base. Fortunately the WOZA vehicle eventually managed to evade their pursuers in the traffic, after a prolonged chase.

Shaken by their ordeal, the WOZA supporters tried to pay bail on Thursday morning only to be informed that the rules had changed that very day and now it was necessary to obtain a bail form from the prison authorities before being able to pay bail at the Magistrate's Court. Upon requesting the bail forms at Harare Remand Prison and Chikurubi Female Prison, the officers-in-charge at both prisons insisted that they could not understand the High Court document ordering the release of the 11 prisoners. The officer-in-charge at Chikurubi insisted that the High Court produce different documents that she could understand.

Having finally obtained the different High Court documents and bail forms from the two prisons, when the WOZA supporters tried to pay bail on Friday afternoon, they were informed that the WOZA file had been locked away. It was only with great difficulty that the bail could be paid for 11 of the WOZA group. As mentioned previously, bail could not be paid for the 12th member as she uses her maiden name but the passport she was forced to surrender is in her married name.

More news will be given as it becomes available.

News update
Wednesday 18th June

Third WOZA member released from prison on bail; arrests in Mutare

The third of the WOZA members remaining in Chikurubi Women's Prison was finally released on bail last night. The delay in securing her release was due to the lawyer being unable to meet with the Magistrate to get permission for her release. All 12 members who had been granted bail are now out of custody. Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu remain in custody. Their bail had been denied by the High Court. All 14 members will appear in Harare Magistrate's Court on Friday 20th June on remand.

Meanwhile three women were arrested in Mutare on Monday 16th June in connection with a WOZA zambia (sarong). The original woman had been arrested for trying to cross into Mozambique illegally. When police searched her possessions, they found the WOZA zambia and immediately demanded to know where she had got it from. Two other women were then arrested after police illegally searched their houses and found WOZA t-shirts. All three women were taken to Mutare Central Police Station and questioned by plain-clothed police officers about WOZA and threatened. They were asked why they wanted to 'sell the country to foreigners'. The three were released after five hours of questioning but told to report back to the police station the next morning. The following morning followed the same pattern with similar questions and threats for several hours before they were released. None of the women have been charged.

News update
Monday 30th June

Another WOZA member arrested in Bulawayo; Williams and Mahlangu approach 6th week in prison

Another member of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) was arrested in Bulawayo this weekend. The member was taken from her home, together with her ten-month-old baby, in Nkulumane by five plain-clothed police officers from the Law and Order Section at Bulawayo Central. She was questioned at Bulawayo Central for several hours before being released at 9pm that same evening.

During her questioning about WOZA and its leadership, the police officers placed a gun on the table in front of her and threatened to shoot her on several occasions. The names of those police officers that repeatedly threatened her were Nyamapande and Mbano. Another officer, Ncube, was also present during the interrogation. They also boasted about having killed Maria Moyo, a WOZA member that passed away last September, and told her that she would meet the same fate. She was not allowed access to her lawyer.

Police told her that they would return in three days to get the answers to the questions that they asked her and threatened to kill her if she did not answer them correctly.

WOZA leaders, Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, incarcerated at Chikurubi Women's Prison since 28th May, are approaching their sixth week of detention. They were denied bail by Judge Ben Hlatshwayo in the High Court on 11th June because the State argued that they would organise Kenyan-style post-election violence.

WOZA notes with satisfaction that Tendai Biti, who has been accused of treason, a charge punishable by death, was granted bail last week after two weeks of detention. On the other hand, Williams and Mahlangu, accused of participating in a gathering with the intent to cause a breach of the peace, a charge that is punishable in most cases with a fine, have been in custody for over five weeks.

WOZA asks all its friends to continue to demand the release of Williams and Mahlangu, nonviolent human rights defenders, whose only crime has been to demand social justice for all Zimbabweans and for an end to the violence that has engulfed Zimbabwe.

News update
Friday 4th July

Williams and Mahlangu finally released on bail

Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were finally granted bail yesterday by Magistrate Mutongi in Harare Magistrate's Court. The entire group of 14 were further remanded to 17th July. The State has also set a trial date of 29th July.

The defence lawyer, Harrison Nkomo, had placed a fresh application for bail on changed circumstances before the magistrate. His application was based on four main points. He firstly countered Justice Hlatshawayo's reasons for denying the two bail on 11th June. At that time, the state had argued that there were two pending cases, one dating from 2004 and the second from June 2007, against Williams and Mahlangu. Hlatshawayo also argued that it would be "childish" to release the two on bail prior to the presidential run-off election because they would organise violent Kenyan-style demonstrations. Nkomo provided evidence that neither of the two court cases were pending in the Magistrate's Court. In the 2004 case, the state had been instructed to proceed by way of summons and the 2007 case had been referred to the Constitutional Court. He went on to argue that the run-off election had passed and therefore the reasons for denying bail were no longer valid.

Further to these two arguments, Nkomo also reasoned that it had been 22 days since the High Court ruling and that passage of time is a valid basis for changed circumstances. He also pointed out the fact that 12 of the co-accused had already been granted bail and that under Zimbabwean law persons accused of the same crime should be treated equally.

Following Nkomo's outline, the prosecutor, Mukapa, requested an adjournment to consider his arguments. Although the magistrate was not happy with the request, as it was coming up to teatime, she adjourned court until after tea. Following the break, the state requested a further adjournment to verify the authenticity of the court extracts regarding the supposedly pending cases. She also stated that she needed more time to prepare her response because she had only learned of the defence's intention to apply for bail the previous day. The Magistrate dismissed this request however after strenuous objections from Nkomo, reminding the prosecutor that no notification of intent to apply for bail is required under law. Before she gave her ruling however, the Magistrate requested that the defence provide a copy of the reasons Judge Hlatshawayo denied bail. As the defence did not have such a document, Nkomo requested, and was granted, a 30-minute adjournment to source the reasons from the High Court.

At the High Court however, it was discovered that Judge Hlatshawayo had not made the required notes detailing his judgement.

Although it was during the lunch hour, the Magistrate allowed court to resume following the break. Mukapa immediately attempted to respond to the defence's application but was stopped by the Magistrate. Mutongi stated that the state had wasted enough of the court's time and that she had already noted that the state had no response. Nothing said after this point therefore would influence her ruling. After accepting the defence's explanation why it was not possible to provide a written copy of the reasons for the High Court ruling, she went on to announce that she was granting Williams and Mahlangu bail and remanded the entire group of 14 to 17th July. The original amounts of $10 billion for Williams (the equivalent of US 30 cents) and $5 billion for Mahlangu were upheld. Conditions of bail included reporting to their nearest police station every Monday and Friday and not interfering with state witnesses (despite the fact that no witness list has been provided by the state and therefore no one knows who the state witnesses are).

Following the ruling, the prosecutor tried to argue that the two should also submit the title deeds for their properties as part of the bail conditions and that the state had set a trial of 29 July. The magistrate overruled all these arguments however by firmly stating that court was adjourned and leaving the courtroom.

Williams and Mahlangu finally walked out of custody after 37 days at 3.45pm after administrative complications caused a delay in getting them out.

WOZA is delighted that the state's petty attempt to pervert justice has finally been overruled and looks forward to challenging these farcical charges at trial. WOZA would also like to thank Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights for their support and their determination to secure the release of all those arrested.

Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu would also like to thank everyone who lobbied for their release, sent messages of solidarity and kept them in their thoughts and prayers. Special thanks go to everyone who visited them in prison, bringing them food, reading materials and precious news of the outside world. Solidarity from friends inside the country and around the world went a long way to ensuring that their time in Chikurubi Women's Prison was made more bearable. They are in good spirits and looking forward to continuing the struggle for democracy in Zimbabwe.

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