SOME 29 MDC-T activists accused of murdering a police officer in Glen View last May were on Tuesday denied bail at the High Court in Harare.
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu said the suspects, who deny the charges, had not shown any special circumstances to be granted bail as required under section 117(6) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
He said the Act stipulates that if anyone murders a police officer on duty the accused person cannot be granted bail unless special circumstances are shown.
The suspects have been denied bail on several occasions and some of them have been in prison for over a year but Justice Bhunu said they had a better chance of a fair trial in the main trial than by appealing for bail.
Prosecutors say the activists fatally assaulted police Inspector Petros Mutedza who was part of a team dispatched to investigate claims they were holding an illegal meeting at a Glen View shopping centre last May.
The activists allegedly started shouting at the police officers, throwing stones, empty bottles, steel stool frames and other missiles.
The police were allegedly out-numbered by the group and Mutedza rushed to a Nissan Hardbody vehicle he mistakenly identified as their own.
He tried to open the door seeking refuge and that is when he was hit by a brick on the left side of his head and fell down, the state said.
The group allegedly kicked him and he became unconscious. Mutedza was rushed to Harare Hospital where he died on arrival.