THE 29 MDC-T Glen View activists’ lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa yesterday described the continuing applications by the State seeking postponement of the murder trial as a farce.
Report by Charles Laiton
Mtetwa told High Court judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu that the State was not being sincere in the manner it had handled the trial of the activists since it started last year.
The activists are accused of killing police Inspector Petros Mutedza in May 2011.
Mtetwa’s remarks followed a request by prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba to postpone the matter to Tuesday next week to allow him time to call a witness to testify on why the matter should be heard the following day.
The trial, which was supposed to continue on Monday this week, failed to take off yet again yesterday after it emerged the doctor who conducted a post-mortem on the late Mutedza was not readily available to testify.
Nyazamba said the Cuban doctor was in the country under diplomatic status and as such could not give evidence in the courts unless cleared by his government.
“The entire application is a farce because the State wants to lead evidence on the 5th (of March) in order to postpone the matter to the 6th. So what’s the point of calling a witness if the matter is to be postponed anyway?” Mtetwa argued.
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Apparently, last Friday Mtetwa opposed the postponement of the matter arguing the State should have made prior arrangement to secure the availability of the doctor, well before the trial commenced last year. Nyazamba said in August last year, the State made a request through the Ministry of Home Affairs to secure the availability of the doctor, but up until now his office had not received a response from Cuba.
Nyazamba called Superintendent Jeremiah Nhamo Murenje to enlighten the court on why the doctor was not being secured, but his evidence was, according to Justice Bhunu, “full of hearsay”.
Justice Bhunu queried why the State had not called Chief Superintendent Charles Ngirishi, who is said to be in possession of copies of the correspondence between the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cuba.
The matter was eventually postponed to today to allow the State to find someone to bring documentary proof to show that there has been communication with the Cuban government to secure the doctor’s attendance.
