THE High Court has given Econet Wireless a 48-hour
ultimatum within which to re-lease cellphone records pertaining to the three
MDC activists' movements, tracked through their mobile phones on the day they
were allegedly abducted by State security agents.
The order was made on Wednesday by Justice Clement Phiri
following an application by the opposition activists Joanah Mamombe, Cecilia
Chimbiri and Netsai Marova.
"The respondent (Econet Wireless) be and is hereby
ordered to, within 48 hours from the date of this order, deliver to the
applicants (Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova) through their legal practitioners,
cell-phone records for the period between May 13, 2020 and June 9, 2020
together with cellular phone triangulation, cell tower tri-angulation or GPS
tracking data for lines 07*****, 07***** and 07***** for the same period,"
Justice Phiri ruled.
The trio was reportedly abducted by State security agents
on May 13, 2020, leading to a worldwide condemnation of the incident which
government dismissed as stage-managed.
Instead, the State charged the women for falsifying their
abduction. However, as the trio's trial date was set by the National
Prosecuting Authority (NPA), on charges of publishing false statements
prejudicial to the State, they approached the High Court for an order to compel
Econet Wireless, whose mobile network they use and has the GPS tracking system,
to release the May 13, 2020 records, saying they will show how they were
allegedly tracked down by State security agents, leading to their abduction.
The three women, who are currently out of custody on $10
000 bail each, argue that they were arrested by the police at a COVID-19
checkpoint along Samora Machel Avenue after staging a demonstration in Warren
Park, Harare. Newsday
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