FIVE blind men accused of assaulting three police officers have been acquitted.
The men, all of them vendors, allegedly stormed the Harare Central Police station to demand their wares seized by police officers in June this year.
Backed by three other men with no disability issues, the group is alleged to have overturned tables and bitten the officers who tried to arrest them.
John Zinyakatira, 35, Moses Mutemachimwe, 46, Amos Murodzi, 35, Carlos Gusha, 33, Sitshengisiwe Nyamadzawo, 23, Christopher Mabhiza, 27, Rangarirai Nhangatira, 33, and Tinashe Makombe, 17, all denied public violence charges.
After the state rested on Monday, defence lawyer Samuel Deme from Legal Aid Directory applied for a discharge.
Magistrate Gamuchirai Siwadi granted the defence application, ruling that the evidence presented was too thin and there was no chance of a conviction.
Prosecutor Hilda Varaidzo Huni had told the court how the blind men acted like “vicious dogs” as they bit police officers, smashed car windows and overturned tables while protesting the seizure of their property. Police had taken their wares because they had no vending permits.