HIGH Court judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu yesterday castigated the conduct of lawyers from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) whom he accused of coaching and influencing defence witnesses in the bail application of the 29 Glen View MDC-T activists.
Report by Senior Court Reporter
The activists are accused of killing Police Inspector Petros Mutedza last year.
In dismissing another bail application, Justice Bhunu described the late Mutedza’s brother Tichaona as “a bitter man” who had a bone to chew with his rival party Zanu PF.
He also said Tichaona’s father, Solomon, was “a gullible grand old man” who had no choice, but to follow blindly the lead of his son and the lawyers.
“Tichaona’s evidence in this respect suggests strongly that he was coached and influenced by the defence team. That type of conduct, if true, is unethical and unbecoming of a firm of lawyers which touts itself as a firm for human rights,” Justice Bhunu said.
“Both defence witnesses, however, admitted in open court that they do not know any of the accused persons and the circumstances surrounding their arrest and link to the alleged murder and yet they had the temerity to stand up in open court and pronounce them innocent of any wrongdoing.”
The judge also blasted Tichaona and his father for not only giving unreliable evidence in court, but also delivering judgment on his behalf.
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Commenting on Tichaona’s evidence, the judge said it was equally incredible, if not bizarre, that Tichaona could have heard of the plot to kill his brother in 2002, but failed to alert him until 10 years later when he decided the information would be beneficial to the alleged murderers’ release from prison.
Justice Bhunu urged the MDC-T activists’ lawyers to pursue the pending appeal with the Supreme Court and stop making applications that would further delay the completion of the trial.
“The court has now lost two weeks of time which should have been put to better use. While such applications may provide sensational media publicity, they are of no benefit at all to the accused persons,” Justice Bhunu said.
The trial continues today.
