Harare Magistrate Mr Francis Vitorini has granted US$50 bail to each of the 27 MDC Alliance supporters charged for public violence which rocked Harare last Wednesday.
Vitorini ruled that the state led by Chief Law Officer Michael Reza had failed to prove personal circumstances of each of the accused persons on the day the offence took place and also failed to pursue compelling reasons for denial of bail.
In his ruling, Vitorini also castigated the state for a systematic failure to prove the compelling grounds for denial of bail to the accused.
He said the court cannot be reduced into political rhetoric as that is best left for politics and the media.
He added that the state had failed to prove what each single individual accused persons did but only asserted that the accused had a propensity to cause disturbances whereas the defence had proved each of the accused person’s personal circumstances.
He said the state had sought a warrant of search and seizure for computers seeking subversive material at Harvest House only to arrest 19 of the accused persons who were at their place of work.
He finally ruled that bail is a constitutional right which must not be tampered with unless that there are compelling reasons and admitted the 27 to US$50 bail each.
One of the accused persons lawyers Mr Danford Halimani was upbeat following the court’s findings and said their clients had been vindicated by the sober ruling. zbc
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