MDC-Alliance vice national chair Job Sikhala was yesterday
acquitted on subversion charges by Masvingo High Court Judge Justice Garainesu
Mawadze, with lawyers describing the decision as a sign that the rule of law
was alive and well in Zimbabwe.
The delivery of the judgment was stopped briefly after tear
smoke engulfed the courtroom. Police used teargas to disperse MDC-A supporters
gathered outside the court chanting slogans. Some shops briefly closed after
MDC-A members started stoning car windows.
Justice Mawadze also upheld Sikhala’s application for
exception to the charge, saying it was meritorious. He upheld Sikhala’s not
guilty plea he had entered earlier on, ruling that it would “be a sad day for
the country’s jurisprudence if a person is charged on the basis of semantics”.
Justice Mawadze said the basis of the charges was Sikhala’s
statement that was taken out of context. “The State put a spin to the alleged
utterances by the accused. The statements should prima facie speak for
themselves. The State used a wrong approach. Mr Zvekare proffered his own
subjective interpretation but the charge has to be clear if accused is to have
a fair trial.”
Commenting on the judgment, Mr Joel Mambara, a lawyer, said
Zimbabwe had always demonstrated that there was rule of law.
“Rule of law is an elusive concept. When justice is in your
favour, there is rule of law. When you are properly tried and found guilty,
there is no rule of law,” he said.
“One is confounded when each time the beneficiaries of the
rule of law shout the loudest that there is no rule of law. This is done
ostensibly to entrench their positions and to win donor sympathy. Justice has
not only been always done, it has been seen to be done. Sikhala’s matter is a
living example.”
Veteran lawyer Mr Tinomudaishe Chinyoka said the
prosecution was always doomed from day one.
“There was no crime committed and the Prosecutor General
(Mr Kumbirai Hodzi) should never have agreed to prosecute the matter,” he said.
Herald
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