Award-winning filmmaker Hopewell Chin’ono has shed more light on the “arrest” of top human right lawyer Douglas Coltart at the Harare Magistrates’ Court on Friday afternoon.
Coltart was picked up by detectives as he stepped out of the court building and taken to Harare Central Police Station for an “interview”.
He had gone to represent his client Chin’ono who is facing charges of defeating the course of justice.
Posting on Twitter this Saturday, Chin’ono said Coltart was only released last night after 9 PM and was expected to be back at the police station by 8 AM today. Wrote Chin’ono:
Doug Coltart was asked to come to Harare Central Police by a team of detectives around midday yesterday. He had been in court representing me.
The detectives said that they only needed him for 15 minutes to clarify certain facts in a commercial deal involving his client.
He went to the police station with them because they had said if he resisted, they would arrest him.
He was only released last night after 9 PM because the police accusations from the complainant kept being disproved with documents brought by Doug’s boss, Beatrice Mtetwa.
Doug Coltart was asked to come back to the police station today at 8 AM so they can go to court.
Doug’s boss Beatrice Mtetwa said it is an abuse of the police service when connected people can get lawyers arrested because they can. Doug said the accusations are a pack of lies.
Doug’s role in all this was as a lawyer who was representing a client who supposedly did a business deal with the person who now got Doug Coltart arrested.
Doug is on his way back to the police station as agreed last night so that they can go to the magistrates’ court.