Zimbabwean human rights lawyer, Obey Shava, has filed a report of assault after at least four unidentified men attacked him and left him wheelchair-bound on Wednesday this week.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said they accompanied the lawyer to file a police report this Saturday. In a Twitter post seen by Pindula News, ZLHR said:
In Zim, they have left crusading human rights lawyer @obeyshava1 wheelchair-bound after assaulting him early this week. Today, we accompanied him to file a report at a @PoliceZimbabwe station.
Advocate Thabani Mpofu, who was briefed on the attack, stated that Shava’s legs were broken, and he was left fighting for his life. A witness reported that the attack was carried out by four men driving a green Mercedes Benz sedan and a Toyota GD6.
According to Mpofu, Shava received a phone call from a man who claimed to have an urgent legal matter and asked to meet him in the Belvedere area. Shava reportedly agreed to meet the individual and intended to drop off a lawyer colleague in the same area. The assailants attacked him as soon as he came out of his car, and they also took his phone.
The motive behind the attack is yet to be determined, but it has sparked concerns about the safety of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe. The ZLHR has called for an immediate investigation into the attack and for the perpetrators to be held accountable. The opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) claims that Shava was assaulted by ZANU PF thugs.