Bail Ruling for ‘Glen View 24’ Postponed for the 5th Time

SW Radio Africa (London)

Tichaona Sibanda

30 June 2011

On Thursday the High Court in Harare postponed ruling on the bail application by 24 MDC-T activists to Friday, the fifth time such a hearing has been pushed forward since their arrests last month. High Court Judge Tendai Uchena has been repeatedly saying he needs more time to go through defence and state arguments.

In protest at these constant delays, supporters have set up a Facebook site to demand the release of this group, now known as the ‘Glen View 24.’ It’s widely believed that the charges they are facing in the murder case of police officer Petros Mutedza are trumped-up and are nothing more than harassment of the MDC-T.

The activists were arrested in the aftermath of a violent brawl that killed Mutedza in late May. The police claim he was murdered by MDC-T members who held a meeting at a night club in Glen View, a charge denied by the party. The police then descended on Glen View and randomly arrested a total of 24 MDC-T members.

In a statement, the MDC-T condemned the continued postponement of the bail ruling saying ‘it is nothing but a delaying tactic by the state.’

‘So far the bail application ruling has been moved five times, with the state requesting the postponements for various reasons,’ the MDC said.

Obert Gutu, the deputy Minister of Justice and the MDC-T spokesman for Harare province, told us the decision by the High court to postpone bail has left him shocked.

‘You know in any bail application, any lawyer would tell you that it is by its very nature an urgent application. I am convinced no decent court can reject their application and with due respect one tends to believe there is something more to it,’ Gutu said.

Among those being held are Cynthia Manjoro, Last Maengahama (a member of the MDC National Executive Council), two Harare City Councillors, Tungamirai Madzokere of Ward 32, Glen View and Oddrey Sydney Chirombe of Ward 33, Budiriro.

Cynthia Manjoro, a 26 year old IT specialist graduate from NUST University, was arrested not for committing a crime, but as ‘bait’ to arrest her alleged boyfriend whom police say is connected to the murder of Mutedza.

She and three other women were being held in the female section of Chikurubi Maximum prison while their male colleagues were at Harare remand prison. But defence lawyer Charles Kwaramba said on Thursday that three of the women were moved to the male section of Chikurubi. Manjoro remains alone in the women’s section. Much concern has been expressed about putting the women into the men’s prison.

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