President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s lawyer Tinomuda Chinyoka was arrested on Monday after he allegedly assaulted a human rights lawyer, Brian Dube who is also the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP for Gweru Urban.
Chinyoka was part of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s legal team that successfully defended his victory in last July’s presidential election at the Constitutional Court.
Chinyoka confirmed his arrest on Twitter but denied that he has assaulted Dube. Said Chinyoka:
Brian Dube and Jeremiah Bamu concocted a false assault charge against me to secure my arrest and removal from the court. Instead of representing their client, they are busy lying and consorting with mobs to assault lawyers and witnesses.
Dube told Gweru Provincial Magistrate Charity Maphosa that he had an encounter with Chinyoka was representing his client the MDC’s Chiwundura MP Livingstone Chimina inside the Gweru Magistrate Court. Said, Dube:
There was a gentleman that was seated right behind me on the bench there about 15 minutes ago, who stood up, charged towards me and pressed me on my right shoulder and indicated that I had ‘pissed him off’ with the defence outline and he was going to deal with me.
He was standing right behind me in this courtroom. I asked him who he was because I have been seeing him a lot around these courts for the past three weeks and that’s when he refused to introduce himself saying I was not supposed to know him.
… Your Worship, I stand before you threatened with unspecified action by a stranger, a person I don’t know. Lawyers should not be harassed in court, no matter how powerful some people are. Our independence as professionals is being tampered with.
Mnangagwa on Saturday vowed that he was going after doctors and lawyers who represented people arrested and injured during ShutDownZim. He said this while addressing a ZANU PF rally.
Meanwhile, the government through the Minister for Information and Publicity on Monday denied that Mnangagwa ever made the threats.