Lawyers representing pro-democracy campaigners Robson Chere, Namatai Kwekweza, Samuel Gwenzi and Vusumuzi Moyo have accused the prosecution of employing delaying tactics to cause further suffering to their clients.
This was after the bail hearing proceedings of the four only started 20 minutes before the end of working hours on Monday.
Vusumuzi Moyo engaged a new lawyer who asked for the matter to be heard in the afternoon on Monday, and his bail application will now be heard on Wednesday.
However, lawyers representing Chere, Kwekweza and Gwenzi were ready to proceed in the morning.
One of their lawyers, Jeremiah Bamu, said they were not happy with how the state has been handling the case. Said Bamu (via ZimLive):
You will note that whenever we start these court proceedings, the prosecutors will take endless hours rumbling over worthless submissions to delay time.
They only start bail proceedings when we have less than 30 minutes left which is a delaying tactic; they take this as a game.
They simply want to prolong the suffering of the applicants.
Appearing for the state, Anesu Chirenje opposed bail and called the investigating officer who said the three should remain in custody. Said Chirenje:
The accused persons have interests outside the country and we are afraid that they will flee from this country’s jurisdiction. Chere has other pending cases before the court.
We have not yet verified the addresses of the accused person… You will note that Kwekweza was in Germany recently; so, she has interests outside Zimbabwe.
Chere, who was allegedly brutally assaulted and tortured following the activists’ abduction at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on Wednesday, has yet to receive any medical treatment for the injuries sustained during the assault, even after being handed over to the police.
The bail hearing continues this Tuesday.
More: Pindula News