Source: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
LAWYERS from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) have petitioned the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to allow detained clergyman, Pastor Philip Mugadza, to seek medical treatment after he sustained injuries when he was assaulted at Parliament Building, where he was arrested on Tuesday 22 November 2016.
Pastor Mugadza was assaulted by some plain clothed officials at Parliament Buidling, where he was taken to after he was arrested while he had chained and padlocked himself on some fencing rails at Africa Unity Square in Harare in protest against President Robert Mugabe’s government.
ZRP officers took Pastor Mugadza, who is represented by Gift Mtisi of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and handed him over to detectives at the Law and Order Section at Harare Central Police Station’s Criminal Investigations Department, who preferred criminal nuisance charges against him as defined in Section 46 (2) (v) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.
Pastor Mugadza’s arrest is the second one in less than one week.
The clergyman was first apprehended on Friday 18 November 2016 at Africa Unity Square and charged for allegedly wearing the country’s national flag without first seeking permission from the country’s authorities as defined in Section 6 of the Flag of Zimbabwe Act.
Prosecutors from the National Prosecuting Authority claimed that Pastor Mugadza contravened Section 6 of the Flag of Zimbabwe Act by unlawfully and intentionally wearing or displaying the national flag without securing prior permission from the “secretary” as required under the controversial law.
The clergyman was set free on Saturday 19 November 2016 after Harare Magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe granted him $50 bail.
ZRP officers have indicated that they are likely to take Pastor Mugadza to appear at Harare Magistrates Court on Thursday 24 November 2016.
Source: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)