ACTING Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi has revealed he
was not anxious to deal with security details accused of killing more than 12
people during last week’s violent fuel protests, but sought to nail those who
murdered a police officer in Bulawayo.
In a telephone interview with NewsDay yesterday, Hodzi
initially said no one was killed by soldiers and police officers deployed to
quell protests during a stayaway organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions in its bid to push government to address the deepening economic crisis.
“No one was killed by the police or any security member,
but we have a case of a police officer who was killed by organisers of these
protests. We have police stations that were destroyed; we have vehicles that
were burnt,” he said.
The acting PG was responding to a question as to why from
the 800 people arrested, no State security agent had been apprehended and
arraigned before the courts for fatally shooting protesters or using live
ammunition on unarmed civilians.
Human rights groups have put the death toll from last
week’s clashes at 12 and more than 68 having gunshots wounds.
“I am saying no one was killed by a police officer or a
security agent. Let it be known that it is bad for people to kill a police
officer on duty. As a law officer, we will not tolerate that,” Hodzi insisted.
He then called 10 minutes later, saying those who would
have been killed, if any, by the military were not law-abiding citizens.
“I want to make a correction on your last question [with
regards to people said to have been killed by members of the security
services]. Let me say, as far as I know, no law-abiding citizen was killed by
soldiers or police,” Hodzi said.
“I know no such case of a law-abiding citizen being killed,
that is as far as I know.”
When pressed to explain his statement, Hodzi said: “I don’t
know of any law-abiding citizen who was killed by law enforcement agents. The
only thing I know and I am not assuming, but talking based on facts, was that a
police officer was killed by organisers of these violent protests and we are
dealing with that”.
Last week, ZCTU called for a three-day national strike
following President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s decision to hike fuel prices
three-fold and the strike turned violent.
The State has so far arrested more than 800 people, mainly
from the main opposition MDC, and a few Zanu PF activists who were accused of
leading the violent protests and looting.
Hodzi said prosecutors were out to nail protesters and
their ring leaders, with their cases set to be fast-tracked.
“We want them to account for their actions. We have people
who were blocking roads, looting shops, beating up people and doing all sorts
of illegality. We will not tolerate that,” Hodzi stated.
Hodzi’s comments come after Deputy Chief Secretary in the
Office of the President, George Charamba, told State media that the State’s
response to the violence was a foretaste of things to come and that the
Executive was revisiting certain constitutional provisions that were being
abused by some political parties.
“It’s a question we will have to deal with as we revisit
certain constitutional provisions, which we now know are prone to abuse by
so-called proponents of democracy,” Charamba said.
With a two-thirds majority in Parliament, the Zanu PF-led
government can tinker with the Constitution in its bid to quash dissent.
Lawyers representing the protesters have accused the State
of denying the accused justice and some have threatened not to participate in
the on-going trials, saying doing so was legitimatising a sham process.
Alec Muchadehama, one of the lawyers representing dozens
arrested following the three-day strike, said what was happening at the courts
was travesty to justice.
“In this case, accused persons are being told to face trial
before being accorded the reasonable time to prepare their defence. Even where
lawyers are involved, they are being told to prepare defence for 10 people
within minutes and so on,” he said.
“There is no way a lawyer can adequately prepare a defence
outline for 10 people or even for one person in minutes. Some of the
prosecutors are lawyers, they should understand better.”
Constitutional lawyer, Chris Mhike expressed similar
sentiments.
“In broad terms, it must be admitted that the speedy
finalisation of court cases is an important aspect of the justice delivery
system. However, that speed must be carefully balanced with other important
legal and procedural factors such as fairness, meaningful representation, and
the availability of adequate self-defence materials or facilities,” Mhike said.
None of the accused persons has been granted bail and many
of them stood trial just after the initial appearance, a development Mhike said
was illegal.
“In terms of section 70 of the Constitution, any person
accused of an offence must enjoy the presumption of innocence and ought to be
informed of the charge being faced in sufficient detail to enable him or her to
answer it, among many other rights,” he said.
“When a court allows the State to fast-track a trial
without affording the accused person the opportunity to exercise their right to
liberty through the bail procedure, the presiding judicial officer would have
failed dismally in his/her solemn duty to uphold the laws of Zimbabwe and to
deliver justice.
“The irregularities that have characterised many of the
on-going so-called trials are, therefore, a tragic failure by Zimbabwean
authorities to respect the rule of law.”
Judicial Services Commission acting secretary Walter
Chikwanha said they expected magistrates to exercise their independence when
discharging their mandate.
“We expect that magistrates would exercise their
independence when discharging their mandate. If the law is not followed, people
should take up the matter to the court of appeal or even seek review at the
High Court,” he said.
“I don’t want to be seen as if we are interfering with what
is happening at the courts, but the Chief Justice made it clear during the
official opening of the legal year that the courts must follow the law. Anyone
who feels aggrieved by a decision of the courts can take up the matter with the
Court of Appeal or the High Court on review.”
Hodzi, however, defended his prosecutors, accusing human
rights lawyers of attempting to frustrate the judicial system by making
“frivolous applications” and said in some cases, acting against the will of the
accused person to have trials proceed.
“An accused person would have agreed to proceed with trial
in the absence of a lawyer and when these lawyers for human rights come in,
they then start to some bizarre applications in an attempt to buy time, which I
have said no. The accused person, yes, has the right to engage a lawyer at any
time, but not to come and delay the case,” Hodzi said. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment