THE State yesterday played one of the video footage extracted from Bon Marche Supermarket at Belgravia Shopping Centre in Harare, where CCC members Joana Mamombe and Cecilia Chimbiri, accused of faking their abductions sometime in May 2020, were said to have been spotted late in the afternoon of the day in question while buying food.
Mamombe and Chimbiri are appearing at the Harare
Magistrates Court charged with communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the
State.
They denied the charges when the trial opened before Chief
Magistrate Mrs Faith Mushure.
In the video footage, the State said they were interested
in identifying the car which is believed to have been driven by the two on the
day in question. The car is seen from a distance parking in a bay in front of
the shop between 4:39pm and 4:53pm.
The State indicated that it will play another footage on
July 27 when the trial continues.
Mamombe and Chimbiri, through lawyer Mr Alec Muchadehama,
had objected to playing and production into the court record of the footage
through State witness, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Muvhuro Mhlanga,
saying he was not competent to tender the footage.
Mr Muchadehama argued that the footage could have been
tempered with and doubted its originality.
Mr Reza, in his response, told the court that Det Chief
Insp Muvhuro was the one who downloaded the original footage upon instruction
from the investigating officer.
He said the detective was a competent witness through whom
the footage could be produced since he was involved in the process of
extracting it.
Mr Reza argued that the footage was not tempered with as it
was being played in its original form. In her ruling, Mrs Mushure said Det
Chief Insp Muvhuro was a competent witness and allowed the State to play the
videos. Mrs Mushure said she was the one who could determine whether the CCTV
footage was tempered with after viewing it. Herald
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