KWEKWE — The State yesterday declined to prosecute four suspected violent MDC-T supporters arrested in Kwekwe last Friday, arguing that charges against them were unclear.
Blessed Mhlanga
The four, Searchmore Muringani, Alex Senge, Malvin Chivhu and Ngoni Tinarwo were however, immediately whisked back to Kwekwe Central Police Station after their brief appearance at the Kwekwe Magistrates Court.
The MDC-T activists are alleged to have assaulted two suspected Zanu PF youths who had gatecrashed an MDC-T rally addressed by party secretary-general Tendai Biti at Mbizo 4 shopping centre last Wednesday.
“The State said it could not proceed to open the matter because the police papers were not clear and some of the statements contained are contradictory,” the suspects’ lawyer Reginald Chidawanyika said.
“For instance, there was no complaint on the assault charge and statements recorded from the alleged victims clearly mention that they did not see their assailants. It then boggles the mind for one to understand why the four were arrested and detained by the police in the first place. So the matter is back to the police and my clients are yet to be released.”
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Meanwhile, the two Zanu PF complainants Blessing Chikwira and Libson Jaure facing charges of disorderly conduct in a public place were last Friday remanded in custody to tomorrow after their lawyer Valentine Mutatu failed to apply for bail.
The State told the court that Chikwira, who is allegedly linked to the notorious Zanu PF shadowy group which operates in Kwekwe under the name Al Shabaab had a documented history of violence and requested for time to get records of his previous cases.