Harare - A high court judge in Zimbabwe on Friday ordered
the release of a top official of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party after he had been locked
up for 11 days on what the MDC called 'trumped-up charges.'
MDC director-general Toendepi Shonhe was arrested earlier this
month for reporting to police that four other MDC activists, released
in March after having been abducted and held in illegal detention for
nearly six months, had been abducted again.
Police said they had not been abducted, but collected by officers
for further investigations in alleged terrorism charges. They then
arrested Shonhe on charges of perjury.
The arrest indicates that tensions remain high between the MDC and
the Zanu-PF party of President Robert Mugabe, which the MDC said was
behind the incarceration.
When Shonhe appeared in court a week ago, a magistrate granted him
bail. But authorities appealed against his decision, effectively
forcing him to wait for the appeal to be lodged.
However, the appeal had not been lodged a week after the initial
sentencing. Instead, the state on Friday appealed to the higher court
against granting Shonhe bail.
Judge Felistas Chatukuta dismissed the appeal after hearing
arguments that there was 'no merit' to the state's case.
Shonhe has lodged an appeal to the supreme court to strike down
the provision forcing suspects to stay in custody if the state lodges
an appeal, on the grounds that it contravened the rights of accused
persons.
The provision has been used repeatedly against opponents of Mugabe
ever since Tsvangirai and Mugabe entered into a coalition
transitional government.
There are numerous issues straining relations in the new
government, with Tsvangirai accusing Mugabe of flouting parts of the
coalition agreement.
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