Prominent lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has hit back at Zanu PF politburo member Jonathan Moyo, saying he is not qualified to speak about her arrest and subsequent incarceration because he knows nothing about her encounter with the police.
REPORT BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI
Speaking during the official launch of Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI) where she was the guest of honour soon after her release from remand prison on Tuesday night, Mtetwa said although Moyo was entitled to his opinion, he had no right to deny other people the same entitlement.
“He got a lot of things wrong about what happened between me and the police,” she said.
“I believe he is entitled and has a right to express his opinion in an article.
“But I disagree with him denying other people the right to do the same thing in their political formations.”
Moyo this week lashed out at Mtetwa in a newspaper article, saying: “Apparently upon learning of the police swoop, Beatrice Mtetwa rushed to the scene of the crime and because she presumes herself to be an untouchable with impunity, she hit the ground with her foul mouth against the police.
“She insulted the police who were doing their lawful work in broad daylight by calling them ‘Mugabe’s dogs’.
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These are some of the utterances that the human rights lawyer reacted to before she proceeded to thank her lawyers for “their lack of sleep” as they fought to secure her freedom.
She said ZDI, whose brief is to promote research and public policy analysis for sustainable development, should strive to help Zimbabweans become more tolerant of each other.
Mtetwa said politicians hated research and that was the reason it was the least funded item on the budget of any country and warned ZDI that it should be prepared to deal with bureaucratic bottlenecks in carrying out its work.
Abel Chikomo, who was the moderator at the function, said there had been a systematic attack on civic organisations whose work was being criminalised.
