Police continue to defy High Court ruling
December 26, 2008
Jestina Mukoko
By Raymond Maingire
HARARE – Police continue to detain Zimbabwe Peace Project director, Jestina Mukoko and 31 alleged co-conspirators of banditry, in open violation of Wednesday’s High Court ruling ordering their immediate release.
The group stands accused of planning acts of banditry to dethrone President Robert Mugabe.
Justice Yunus Omerjee on Wednesday evening declared as illegal the detention of the accused persons saying they had been held for more than the 48 hour period beyond which an accused cannot be held in police custody without being brought to court.
From the group, 23 were to be released immediately while Mukoko and eight others were to be released to Harare’s Avenues Clinic to receive medical treatment under police guard pending their appearance for remand at the magistrate’s court next Tuesday.
The court ordered that the accused people, who allege that they were tortured at the hands of state security agents during their detention, should be allowed full access to their lawyers while in custody.
But despite the ruling by Justice Omerjee, the accused persons were back in custody as of Thursday evening.
Six of the accused people who were freed by the High Court and detained at Harare Central remand prison were transferred to Chikurubi remand prison. Several others were still detained at various police stations in Harare.
Harare human rights lawyer, Alec Muchadehama told The Zimbabwe Times Thursday evening that the police have not stated the reasons for continuing to hold the accused persons.
“The police have not yet complied with the court order,” he said. “They have not stated to us why they would want to go against a court order that was passed with their consent.
“We see this as a continuation of what they started on October 27. Nothing has changed since then except to say that they now admit having them in their custody.”
For the better part of November and December, the police denied knowledge of their whereabouts. Lawyers filed court applications to order the police to locate and release the prisoners.
The police refused to comply with subsequent court rulings ordering the immediate release of the accused persons.
Print This Article
Email This Article
Comments
14 Responses to “Police continue to defy High Court ruling”Advertisement
-
Zimbabwe News Sites
OPINION POLL
-
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
OPINION POLL
-
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
It is a sad that one is attacked for asking questions. All I have done is to solicit for answers to the questions I posed. Yes I am naïve in as far as the organization in question is concerned. I am not condoning or condemning anything or anyone. Instead of making these far fetched ad hominem comments, why can’t someone educate me by providing answers to what are clearly legitimate questions
Steve
lt is people like who cannot be flexible, who see everything in black and white. lf somebody does not support MDC, you quickly equate him/her to Zanu pf. What sort of thinking is that?
lt is people like you who make and promote dictators only to cry like little babies when those dictators start to enjoy the powers you have entrusted to them.
Right now we have a dictator Tsvangirayi almost ready to enjoy the powers people are giving him. ln the name of democracy, he has rubbed his dirt shoes on Zimbabwean nose, stepped on everybody’s toes, made some shaming decisions, and were are you Steve and others?
All that is being cheered and accepted as a sign of inner wisdom and champion on democracy.
I just can’t understand these Zanu people who support the abduction and torture of fellow Zimbabweans, when they know fully well that the charges against these individuals are false. The only crime that Jestina and others have committed is standing for the truth and dignity of the people of Zimbabwe. To those people that support Zanu PF actions I say, your party clearly sees the writing on the wall, that change is near. That is why they are acting so desperate. To the investigative journalists, I plead with you to make an effort to get the picture of the two year old child who is in detention and show it to the world and shame the rogue regime. In fact, I am disappointed that the media and human rights groups are not highlighting the plight of this child. If they do, this would do a lot of damage to this shameless regime. Remember the iconic picture of a student carrying a dying fellow student who had been shot by police in apartheid South Africa? Such pictures speak louder than words
Nehoreka brings out the issue of supporting the MDC but in reality no one talked about supporting the MDC except to castigate the practices conducted by the self imposed Government of Zimbabwe. We are talking about abductions and the need to respect the law which culminates in the rule of law vanehoreka. We are saying people should be taken to court as soon as possible and in any case within 48 hours of their detention as prescribed by Zimbabwean law not by jungle law which nehoreka advocates for. It betrays his/her limited understanding of the reasons why people vote others into power. We vote people into power so that they can uphold the law and protect the most vulnerable members of our society and to make sure that the laws of the country are observed in spirit and in deed. If a government becomes a law unto itself nehoreka, it is no different to a robber because both will not be observing the laws of thecountry. It is this aspect nehoreka which you need to be very familar with. Remember another former finance minister once proposed that criminals should not be granted bail in his thesis and what happened later to him must have made him to want to tear that thesis to pieces. So nehoreka no one assumes you support zanu pf but you just betray yourself with your assertions which are filled with nothing but the zanu pf cruelty. Its your choise which party you support but to support zanu pf is like supportig a dead donkey mate.