Harare magistrate Mrs Chido Garwe has issued a warrant of arrest against MDC-Alliance vice president Tendai Biti after he failed to appear in court for trial.
Biti is facing allegations of manhandling a Russian
national during an altercation outside Harare Magistrates Court. His lawyer Mr
Aleck Muchadehama was not present in court to represent his client.
This led senior prosecutor Mr Micheal Reza to apply for a
warrant of arrest.
It is the State’s case that Ms Tatiana Aleshina was
allegedly insulted and assaulted by Biti outside the courtroom but within the
complex premises.
Ms Aleshina filed a report with the police and has also
lodged two further complaints with the Law Society of Zimbabwe.
Ms Aleshina wants Biti investigated for alleged gross
unprofessional conduct and alleges she and her workmates were intimidated and
verbally abused outside the court each time they came for proceedings.
Ms Aleshina is one of the witnesses in case involving
building contractor George Katsimberis who is alleged to have defrauded a land
developer with whom he had entered into a joint venture to build cluster houses
in Harare’s Borrowdale suburb.
In the matter, Katsimberis is accused of using plans that
were not approved by council which led to the show house being demolished.
Ms Aleshina is the chief operating officer of the land
developer.
She claims that on November 30 last year as she was about
to leave the court gallery after a court session, Biti allegedly threatened to
harm her.
“It was clear to all people who were in the court gallery
that Mr Biti took delight not only in verbally abusing me, but in trying to
intimidate me and felt that, as a woman and foreigner of Russian origin, he
would use every extra judicial means to crush me or harm or destroy me for
daring to be a witness in the criminal matter against his client,” she stated
in her complaint. Herald
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