Chamisa, who
was being represented by Kudzayi Kadzere of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights, was assaulted in 2018.
According to
court papers, on October 4, 2018, Chamisa was wrongly and unlawfully assaulted
by municipal police all over the body with batons, fists, booted feet and
palms.
The municipal
police insulted him over his political choices in full view of the public along
the First Street Mall in Harare.
Chamisa said at
all material times the municipal policemen were acting within the course and
scope of their employment during an operation to rid Harare of vendors and
touts.
He said as a
result of the assault he suffered physical bodily injury and had multiple
abraded and bruised parts of the body that included the posterior and front
torso, front of thighs, areas above the ankles, the face, as well as upper
extremities, associated tenderness of the soft tissues over all the mentioned
parts of the body.
Chamisa
submitted that he suffered a fractured right hand on the forearm, two fractured
ribs on the right side of the rib cage and laceration of the lower lip.
He said he
suffered abrasions and bruising of tissues of the torso and limb, split
laceration in the vertical pattern on both legs and a non-therapeutic
extracorporeal material.
Chamisa was
also seeking compensation for psychological injuries, shock, failure to sleep,
fatigue and loss of energy and difficulty in concentration and hallucination,
poor orientation and difficulty in walking and depression.
“As a result of
the foregoing, the plaintiff suffered damages in the amount of US$31 830 broken
down as US$1 830 for medical expenses, US$20 000 for shock, pain and suffering,
US$10 000 for contumelia,” it was submitted.
High Court
judge Justice Christopher Dube Banda ruled in Chamisa's favour saying according
to evidence the assault was unprovoked, vicious and inhuman.
“No doubt the
plaintiff experienced extreme pain and was hospitalised for long periods. The
plaintiff was brutally assaulted using batons, booted feet, etc.
“He suffered
psychological injury, shock, failure to sleep, experiencing fatigue and loss of
energy and difficulty in concentration and hallucination; poor orientation and
difficulty in walking; and depression.
“The plaintiff
was, on the evidence, peaceful and law-abiding, minding his business. It was
improper, undesirable and unlawful for municipal police to violate him in such
a violent manner. Punitive and exemplary damages will go some way towards
underscoring the repugnance, outrageous, frightening and despicable nature of
the assault.”
The judge said
Chamisa had not provoked the attackers saying that also called for exemplary
damages, adding that his view was that damages for contumelia in the sum of
US$5 000 00 will meet the justice.
He also
accepted Chamisa’s case for damages for medical expenses.
“The plaintiff
is clearly entitled to his costs. Accordingly, I hereby order the defendant to
pay the plaintiff damages in the sum of US$15 000 for shock and suffering, US$5
000 for contumelia and to pay the plaintiff damages for medical expenses in the
sum of US$1 830. Interest on the total amount of US$21 830,00 at the prescribed
rate calculated from the date of judgment to the date of final payment,”
Justice Dube Banda ruled. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment