2023-06-13 23:07:00
With our regional correspondent, Roman Song
The damage is said to have taken place in Nyatsime, in the south of the capital Harare. Prosecutors accuse these opposition members of having destroyed several houses and assaulted residents. The defense sweeps away these accusations and sees in this dragnet a maneuver to put pressure on the opposition in the run-up to the presidential election on August 23. Lawyers for the 39 suspects hope to secure their release at a hearing on Wednesday.
Nothing links these men to the charges against them, according to the defense. According to Freddy Masarirevu, one of the lawyers, the police did not carry out any serious investigation. She went from house to house to arrest men without confronting their identity with the suspects of the degradations caused the previous week. The majority of them were at work on the day of the incident, according to their lawyers.
Evidence of degradation is also lacking. No individual has lodged a complaint when houses have been destroyed. For the lawyers, these arrests are political because the suspects are members of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC). The party will be represented by Nelson Chamisa in the August elections. He lost to the president Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2018. Nelson Chamisa regularly denounces the repression of his supporters. ” Authorities use courts to silence opposition members “Also warns Amnesty International.
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