Lawyers representing businessman Frank Buyanga say reports
that their client is a fugitive from justice were false and defamatory.
They argue he has not been found guilty of any criminal
offence in the country. The development comes after last week’s comments
attributed to Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga.
Commissioner-General Matanga was quoted as saying Buyanga,
was being regarded as a fugitive from justice after fleeing the country with
his five-year-old son following a kidnapping incident which occurred last
month.
Following the incident at Waterfalls Shopping Centre on
March 26, the High Court ordered Buyanga to return the child to his mother,
Chantelle Muteswa.
Buyanga who is outside the country failed to comply with
the order saying he was unable to travel because of Covid-19 travel bans and
lockdown provisions.
In a statement on Sunday, Buyanga’s Attorney, William
Wilcock who is based in South Africa said their client was unable to comply
with any order because of the lockdown affecting most of the world’s
international borders.
“On 30 April 2020 an appeal application was heard in the
Zimbabwe High Court in which our client sought the suspension of a strange and
misguided court order granted against him on 16 April 2020 by Justice Manzunzu.
The Honourable Justice Mafusire dismissed the appeal, however stated that he
had misgivings about Justice Manzunzu’s order to arrest Mr Sadiqi.
“Justice Mafusire stated “After considering the matter, the
judgment by Manzunzu J, and after considering the notice of opposition, first
personally I have misgivings and with all due respect, I say this with all due
respect, I have misgivings about Paragraph 4 of the order of Manzunzu J,”.
Paragraph 4 of the 16 April 2020 court order states “Failure of which, this
order shall serve as a warrant of arrest for the First Respondent throughout
Zimbabwe for him to be brought before the court to show cause why he should not
be found to be in contempt of court of this order”,” Wilcock said.
He added, “We find it incredulous and defamatory that
Comm-Gen Matanga would call Mr Sadiqi a fugitive from justice when he has not
been found guilty of any criminal action. Further, Comm-Gen Matanga stated “My
police officers are investigating this criminal case and efforts to locate
either the applicant or the minor child within Zimbabwe have yielded no results.
“The matter currently before the courts is a civil matter
regarding the custody of a five-year-old child. It is not a criminal matter and
Mr Sadiqi (Buyanga) has not been found guilty of any criminal action. We
therefore find the statement by Comm-Gen Matanga to be entirely incorrect and
defamatory.”
Wilcock said despite the custody battle not being a
criminal matter, Comm-Gen Matanga had stated that they have approached Interpol
to locate Buyanga.
“We submit that this further points to the unjust treatment
of our client by the various government departments, police officials and court
officials in Zimbabwe as a result of the political influence being held over
these departments. We are confident that any approach by Zimbabwe to Interpol
will not be entertained as it is baseless and unconstitutional.
“The appeal against Justice Manzunzu’s court order dated 16
April 2020 continues, as does the world-wide Covid-19 pandemic which has locked
down most of the world’s international borders, making the 16 April 2020 court
order impossible to comply with in any case. The current directive that only
urgent and bail matters can be filed in the Zimbabwe Supreme Court has taken
away Mr Sadiqi’s constitutional right to protection from the law,” he said.
Wilcock said Buyanga has continuously been a victim of
corruption and unjust treatment by various government departments, police
officials and court officials. H Metro
0 comments:
Post a Comment