Newsday reporter Obey Manayiti yesterday filed assault charges against a yet-to-be-identified Harare police officer who brutally assaulted him last Thursday. This came as a police detail, identified as Peter Ndava, also filed an assault charge against the journalist.
BY STAFF REPORTER
“An investigator has been appointed to deal with the matter of assault against Manayiti. Certainly a docket has been opened, but it’s a dark day for journalism, where police can’t accept that reporters should be allowed to do their work freely,” NewsDay lawyer Rudo Magundani said.
She added that police would soon mount an identification parade at Harare Central Police Station to enable Manayiti to positively identify his attacker.
“The police opened a docket against Manayiti for assaulting Peter Ndava, a police officer, and the vibe that we got from the police is that they are still investigating and there is no indication on the court date thus far,” Magundani said.
On Thursday, Manayiti, photojournalist Shepherd Tozvireva, intern Abigail Matsikidze and driver Raphael Phiri were brutally attacked by the plainclothes police officer after they were found shooting pictures of a scuffle between the law enforcement agents and street vendors.
