Zimbabwe’s deputy
information minister says extraditing former first lady Grace Mugabe to South
Africa would constitute “harassment”.
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has
issued an arrest warrant for the former first lady in connection with her
alleged assault of model Gabriella Engels‚ who was partying with her sons at a
hotel in Johannesburg in 2017.
While charges were laid‚ Mugabe was controversially allowed
to leave the country after the South African government granted her diplomatic
immunity. That decision was overturned by the high court in July after Engels
appealed the decision.
Lobby group AfriForum revealed the existence of the warrant
at a press conference on Wednesday.
As a member of the international police body Interpol‚
Zimbabwe has an obligation to hand over Mugabe for prosecution. But the
country’s deputy information minister Energy Mutodi said the former first lady
was unlikely to be extradited because “we believe she enjoys the diplomatic
immunity accorded to diplomats‚” he was quoted as saying on Wednesday in
NewsDay.
“We will not smile on any attempt to embarrass‚ ill-treat
or diminish the image of former president Robert Mugabe or his immediate family
members‚” he added. "An attack on Grace Mugabe is an attack on the former
president. President Mugabe is our founding father and liberation icon and his
misery is undesirable to us."
Mutodi told Reuters that Zimbabwe would not extradite Grace
as this would constitute “harassment”.
NewsDay quoted Harare lawyer Wilson Manase‚ who has
represented Grace before‚ as saying he had no instructions to represent her.
“It is likely that she has legal representation in South Africa‚” said Manase.
Gabriella Engels’ mother Debbie Engels told the publication
in July: “I told my daughter that no matter what happens‚ I’m proud of her. Whether
this case goes to trial or not‚ she stood up for herself - and she showed other
people how to stand up for themselves.
“I always tell her: you don’t need an elephant to take down
another elephant. You only need a mouse. She has shown that.”
- TMG Digital.
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