SW Radio Africa (London)
Tererai Karimakwenda
24 June 2011
The group of 20 MDC-T members, facing trumped up charges in the murder case of a Glen View policeman, will remain in police custody another weekend after a High Court judge issued no judgment on bail Friday.
Last week High Court Judge Tendai Uchena reserved judgment on their bail application, saying he needed more time to go through the arguments. Defence lawyer Charles Kwaramba told SW Radio Africa on Friday that he has checked with the court everyday since and there has been no communication from the judge.
“A bail application by anyone, whether it’s MDC or ZANU PF or whoever, should be treated on an urgent basis because it deals with the freedom of people,” Kwaramba said, adding that he was “not happy”.
The 20 activists were arrested in the aftermath of a violent brawl that killed policeman Petros Mutedza last month. The police claim he was murdered by MDC-T members who held a meeting at the local pub, a charge denied by the party. The police then descended on Glen View and randomly arrested a total of 24 MDC-T members.
This week lawyer Kwaramba insisted there is proof that 19 out of the remaining 20 accused were nowhere near the scene of the incident. Their families are being allowed access to bring in food and clothing, and those in need of medical assistance are being treated once a week.
The mother of Cynthia Manjoro, a young woman among the arrested MDC-T members, broke down when asked what she would like to say to Theresa Makone and Kembo Mohadi, the two co-Home Affairs Ministers. Speaking on SW Radio Africa’s Question Time program she simply said: “I want my daughter home.” Mai Manjoro insisted Cynthia was not in Glen View when the violence broke out. She is also asthmatic and has a young daughter that needs to be cared for.
Senior police officials have reportedly admitted to the family that they know Cynthia is innocent. It is believed her detention is being used as bait in a police search for her boyfriend.
In another case of false arrest, Washington Tirivangani, an MDC-T councilor from Makonde district in Mashonaland West, is still detained without charge one week after being picked up. Tirivangani was distributing copies of MDC-T newsletters at Chipfuwamiti Business Centre when police detained him last Friday.
The councilor is detained at Chemagamba Police Station in Chinhoyi and was due to appear in court on Thursday to hear the charges against him. We were unable to contact the MDC-T for an update on his case.
Meanwhile the whereabouts of Tendai Chinyama, the MDC-T organising secretary for Kambuzuma district, remain unknown after he was abducted by three armed men on Wednesday afternoon. Chinyama was abducted at the Harare City Council Bishop Gaul Depot, and driven away in a Mitsubishi L200 cream twin-cab. On Friday the MDC-T said he had still not been found.
The number of MDC-T officials and members in police detention has continued to rise, along with reports of abductions and harassment, at the hands of ZANU PF thugs and politicized security agents.
The continued abuses by ZANU PF are a slap in the face of regional leaders who have called on the political parties to abide by the peaceful spirit of the GPA. And the MDC-T has also been criticized for continuing to conduct business as usual, while its officials and members are under siege.
AllAfrica – All the Time
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No Bail Judgement for 20 in Glen View Case