A HIGH Court judge yesterday ordered the Zimbabwe Republic
Police and Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage minister Cain Mathema to pay $13
500 to 64-year-old Lillian Chinyerere, who was assaulted by the police at the
Harare Magistrates’ Courts during an anti-government protest in 2016.
Chinyerere’s photographs while being kicked by armed riot
police officers made international headlines and reinforced Zimbabwe’s image as
a pariah State.
In the pictures, which were exclusively captured by
NewsDay, Chinyerere was pleading with riot police officers to allow her entry
into the court building, where #ThisFlag founder Evan Mawarire was appearing,
facing treason charges after leading a massive anti-government protest.
High Court judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi ordered Police
Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Mathema to pay $5 000 for damages, pain
and suffering.
Another $5 000 was for damages to her indignity, $2 500
being special damages for loss of income and $1 000 for past and future medical
expenses.
Kudzai Kadzere and David Hofisi from the Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights, who represented Chinyerere, had submitted that their client
suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes.
She had also suffered the ignominy of a brutal assault on
her ageing body in full view of the public.
ZRP lawyers from the Civil Division of the
Attorney-General’s Office unsuccessfully denied the allegations levelled
against the police, saying Chinyerere had made assault allegations in a bid to
tarnish the image of the force. Newsday
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