THE Prosecutor General (PG)’s Office yesterday withdrew an appeal at the Supreme Court where it had sought to compel the courts to incarcerate Marange businessman Newman Chiadzwa and seize his 8,67kg of industrial diamonds worth at least $100 million.
BY CHARLES LAITON SENIOR COURT REPORTER
Chiadzwa could be smiling all the way to the bank.
PG’s representative Edmore Nyazamba had initially put up a spirited fight in a bid to convince the Supreme Court to rule against the decision of the High Court releasing Chiadzwa from prison, but failed.
Chiadzwa was jailed for five years and fined $132 000 for breaching the Precious Stones Act by a Mutare court in 2010, but the High Court later acquitted him on review and the 43 028,20 carats of diamonds were forfeited to the State on the basis that according to the law he could not possess them.
However, all the attempts by the State to frustrate Chiadzwa’s liberty hit a brick wall after the Supreme Court’s intervention.
Chiadzwa’s lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu submitted in his heads of arguments that the PG’s Office was exhibiting extreme malice in pursuit of the case and urged the court to bring the matter to finality.
“Now in seeking the vacation of the order of Mutema J, applicant intends to procure respondent’s incarceration on the basis that he unlawfully held on to the diamonds. Such confusion is unnecessary and at any rate unacceptable,” Mpofu said.
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Asked by judges of appeal, Justices Vernanda Ziyambi, Barat Patel and Paddington Garwe, if he (Nyazamba) was still interested in pursuing the appeal after conceding all his grounds of appeal had no merit, Nyazamba said: “The appeal cannot be sustained, I will not pursue it.”
The appeal was withdrawn with no order as to costs.
