Detained journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono will remain in
custody until August 18 when Magistrate Ngoni Nduna is expected to rule on the
suitability of his lead defence lawyer to continue in that position.
The State, led by Prosecutor Whisper Mabhaudhi is pushing
for lead lawyer, Beatrice Mtwetwa to recuse herself from the case on
allegations of disrespecting the courts.
Mtetwa is alleged to have posted on her Facebook page
titled Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law saying: “Where is the outrage of the
international community that Hopewell Chin’ono is being held as a political
prisoner?
“His life is in serious peril. Raise awareness about his
unlawful imprisonment. Do not let him be forgotten. You or someone you love
could be the next one abducted from your home and put in leg irons. SPEAK OUT”.
But Mtetwa, who is representing Chin’ono in a case in which
he is being charged with inciting public violence, argued that the allegations
of contempt, stemming from a Facebook page being run using her name, had no
legal basis.
She denied being the owner of the page and was backed by
her client Chin’ono who said the page belonged to a film documentary maker who
is not based in Zimbabwe.
The matter has become a trial within a trial, as Mtwetwa
was before the courts to re-apply bail for Chin’ono on changed circumstances.
She accused the State of “trying to choose a legal counsel
for the accused which is completely unheard of.”
“Prosecutor Mabhaudhi is calling on the courts to remove
the lead counsel from the case and we finalised the submissions today,” said
lawyer, Roselyn Hanzi after the trial.
“The Magistrate has said that he needs time to write the
ruling which he is going to deliver on Tuesday, 18 August, so that means the
bail application is not going to proceed until we have the ruling and we know
the position of our lead counsel Beatrice Mtetwa in this case.”
The decision by the magistrate means, Chin’ono, who was
arrested with politician, Jacob Ngarivhume on the same charges, will spend yet
another weekend in prison and will not know his own fate until the fate of his
lawyer has been decided.
A number of attempts to have both the High Court and
Magistrates Court grant them bail have so far failed.
This forced their lawyers from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights (ZLHR) to re-apply for bail on changed circumstances given that
the date for the planned action passed, with the demonstrations considered a
non-event.
The hearing for Chino’no’s new application began on
Wednesday before Nduna following the Heroes and Defence Forces holidays while
that for Ngarivhume was pushed to Monday.
But Chin’ono’s hearing took a twist when the State alleged
that Mtwetwa, through a social media page being run using her name, had
disrespected the courts.
Meanwhile, the High Court granted an application by
Chin’ono and Ngarivhume challenging the suspension of their rights in prison,
with the court ordering the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services to allow
the two access to their lawyers food and clothes, within reasonable
administration restrictions, access to doctors of their choice and personal protective
equipment in light of the Covid-19 outbreak while in remand prison.
The ruling followed complaints by the defence that their
clients were being denied time and privacy with their lawyers as well as food
provided from outside prison.
New Ziana
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