Source: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe on Wednesday 3 August 2016 freed four Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA) leaders who are facing charges of undermining the authority of, or insulting President Robert Mugabe in contravention of Section 33 (2) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act) [Chapter 9:23] on $300 bail each.
Francis Nhando, Victor Matemadanda, Hoyini Samuel Bhila and Headman Moyo were granted bail on the condition that each deposit $300 with the Clerk of Court and report to various CID Law and Order sections twice a week.
ZLHR chairperson Beatrice Mtetwa and member David Drury, who are representing the war veterans, also gave notice of constitutional issues they would want addressed at the next remand hearing on the 5th of September 2016.
Mtetwa advised that lawyers experienced difficulties in accessing their clients whilst they were in custody, in contravention of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, as police at various places of detention insisted on authorisation from Law and Order section in Harare. Additionally, the pre-trial incarceration period of the accused persons – 48 hours in the case of Nhando and Matemadanda, and 24 hours for Bhila and Moyo, will be challenged as the detention was not required in terms of the Constitution and had been implemented merely to punish the detainees, who had voluntarily reported to the police. The matter of the State’s failure to provide the Form 242 for each of the accused persons to lawyers in time, to enable them to go through its contents with their clients before court proceedings, will also be challenged.
Source: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights