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Glen View 29 trial: ‘Granny chased cops’

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ONE of the Glen View 29 MDC-T activists standing trial over the death of Police Inspector Petros Mutedza, 57-year old Kerina Gweshe, was arrested in May last year after police informers allegedly witnessed her in hot pursuit of the retreating police officers

ONE of the Glen View 29 MDC-T activists standing trial over the death of Police Inspector Petros Mutedza, 57-year old Kerina Gweshe, was arrested in May last year after police informers allegedly witnessed her in hot pursuit of the retreating police officers, the court heard yesterday.

CHARLES LAITON

Chief Inspector Clever Ntini stunned the gallery and left it in stitches when he said Gweshe was arrested as being part of the MDC-T youth members after she was seen charging as the cops took to their heels.

Ntini’s answer came after defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa asked him why such an old woman was arrested and whether police officers regarded her as being youthful.

“She was arrested because she was seen chasing after the police officers at the crime scene,” Ntini said.

Mtetwa then asked Ntini to confirm if his informers had told him that the 57-year-old woman was seen charging  towards the police officers together with other MDC-T youths and he answered in the positive.

But after being told that Gweshe was not anywhere near Glen View 3 on the day in question since she was attending to visitors who had attended her grandchild’s birthday the previous day, Ntini said he was not aware of that information.

Turning to MDC-T youth assembly president Solomon Madzore’s arrest, Ntini told High Court judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu that the youth leader was arrested by police acting on “additional information” from the informers.

Ntini’s disclosures came after intense cross-examination by Mtetwa, who questioned him to explain why he had supplied different information pertaining to Madzore’s participation in the matter.

Initially in his statement in July last year, Ntini said police officers who attended the MDC-T activists’ meeting in Glen View, advised that the youth leaders Robert Manyengavana and Paul Gorekore to cancel their unsanctioned meeting at which point he did not mention Madzore’s presence.

But when the MDC-T activists applied for bail in October last year, Ntini allegedly “smuggled” Madzore’s name in and said the officers advised him that he was part of the youth leadership that was ordered to cancel the unsanctioned meeting.

The trial continues today.