THE 29 Glen View MDC-T activists, who are accused of killing Police Inspector Petros Mutedza, yesterday appeared at the High Court before Justice Chinembiri Bhunu making an application for discharge at the close of the State case. SENIOR COURT REPORTER
The activists, five of whom are still in custody, were represented by a team of five lawyers led by Beatrice Mtetwa. Both the defence and the State, led by prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba, made oral submissions.
Mtetwa argued the identification of her clients on the date of the alleged offence raised a lot of questions since no police officer managed to personally identify any of the 29 accused persons as the culprits.
She further said the State failed to produce documentary evidence in support of the substantiation of its individual witnesses who alleged to have identified the accused.
Mtetwa further said it was the State’s contention that all the 29 accused persons were MDC-T supporters, but it had failed to lead evidence to support the assertion.
State prosecutor Nyazamba, however, insisted in his submissions that all his witnesses gave credible testimonies and urged the court to dismiss the application.
In his submissions, Nyazamba said the activists conspired to commit the offence and as such they should all be ordered to defend themselves.
In response to the State’s assertion, Mtetwa left the court in stitches when she said what Nyazamba was simply seeking to do to her clients was what the “Pharaohs” of Egypt did to the “Warriors” last Sunday.
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Mtetwa said there was no way her clients would have conspired to commit the alleged offence since they had proved during trial that they were at different places at the time of their arrest. Justice Bhunu reserved judgment.
Meanwhile, DJ Munya’s bail application, which was set to be heard yesterday, was again deferred to today following his lawyer’s application for a postponement.
Munya’s lawyer, Lucky Mawuwa, told High Court judge Justice Joseph Musakwa that he needed time to file Munya’s affidavit before a determination on his client’s application could be made.
Munya’s alleged accomplices Taurai Jani and Mohammed Matare are also expected in court today for their bail applications.
