Harare regional magistrate Mr Taurai Manwere postponed the
matter because Mahere’s lawyer Mr David Drury was not available due to other
commitments.
Mahere had requested the Clerk of Court to subpoena Asst
Comm Nyathi to appear, as she intended to tender in court through him, a
statement issued by police in relation to the incident to cement her defence
case.
Any document tendered into a court record has to be done
through the author of the document, who can testify that they originated the
document.
Mahere had requested that Asst Comm Nyathi be subpoenaed to
appear in court last Friday.
She was placed on her defence to explain herself on the
motive of the tweet and why she had tweeted without verifying whether the child
had died or not.
The CCC spokesperson admitted to tweeting when she took to
the witness stand to give her explanation.
“I confirm that I tweeted what I heard in the video,” she
said.
“There are two tweets. When I tweeted this, I had seen a
video which depicts a woman holding a lifeless baby.
“The woman was grabbing a police officer by the collar. The
police officer is seen holding a baton and everyone is heard saying in that
video ‘auraya mwana’ (the police officer has killed a baby),” she said.
Asked whether she had confirmed the death of the child or
not before tweeting, Mahere said: “From the evidence led in court the mother
believed the baby had died and also everybody around, including witnesses, said
the police officer had killed the baby whom he hit on the head.
“The investigating officer also confirms that there were
several articles saying the baby was beaten up. I had no way I could know that
the baby had indeed died.”
Mahere said the police statement described the conduct of
the police on the day in question as “errant behaviour”, and it was this
statement that she wanted entered in full into the court record as part of her
defence.
Mrs Sheilah Mupindu and Mrs Netsai Mushayabasa are
appearing for the State. Herald
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