In a statement yesterday, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLHR) said Matanga and Kazembe were ordered to pay US$5 000 each or its
equivalent in local currency to the victims of police brutality, Canaan
Machando and his wife Sipetangani as compensation for violation of their rights
and their property.
In addition, the magistrate Winfild Tiyatara ordered
Matanga and Kazembe to pay $56 800 to Canaan and $24 000 to Sipetangani as
compensation for damages to their mobile phone handsets.
During trial, Canaan and Sipetangani, who were assisted by
Fiona Iliff of ZLHR to sue Matanga and Kazembe, told Tiyatara that on January
14, 2019, some ZRP officers, along with some soldiers who had been deployed to
quell anti-government protests, slapped Sipetangani several times and kicked
her in the presence of her two children.
The police officers and soldiers also ordered Canaan to lie
flat on his stomach, stepped on him before assaulting him.
In her ruling, magistrate Tiyatara said Sipetengani and Canaan,
and their children suffered emotional pain, trauma and shock from the incident
and the couple was humiliated and embarrassed by the indignity of being forced
out of their home owing to misconduct by police officers.
The magistrate said the conduct of ZRP officers was
unlawful and “there was no legal justification whatsoever for them to have
conducted themselves in such a wayward manner”.
The magistrate also ruled that the actions of the ZRP
officers were so indiscriminate, unwarranted, and unnecessary and that their
conduct fell short of the duty of care that the police service has towards
civilians. Newsday
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