Zim accuses magistrate of 'attack on national security'

Zim accuses magistrate of 'attack on national security'

JAMES MAKAMBA

• Makamba released, rearrested

• Makamba faces 22 forex offences

• Makamba arrested

• Chiyangwa nabbed on corruption charges

• Msika warns Chiyangwa

• Chiyangwa threatens cop in court

• Chiyangwa implicated in ENG scandal

• Zanu PF bids to oust Msika

• ENG directors charged with fraud

• Banks face collapse

• End of era for forex dealers

• Gono new RBZ governor

• Tea boy to national purse

By Staff Reporter
19/03/04
THE Accountability Commission of Zimbabwe has condemned what it termed the “deliberate bullying and manipulation of the judiciary” in the on-going anti-corruption blitz initiated by government.

The Commission’s Legal Director and prominent lawyer Gabriel Shumba said the government was using the state-owned Herald newspaper to intimidate judges, lawyers and legal officers in a bid to get favorable judgments.

The Herald on Thursday ran a story under the headline “Magistrate’s ruling sparks outrage” in which magistrate Judith Tsamba's decision to grant bail to businessman James Makamba was described as an "attack on national security".

“We condemn in the strongest terms the rampant and pervasive intimidation of the judiciary in Zimbabwe,” the commission which has been cataloguing human rights abuses for future action said.

“The deliberate bullying and manipulation of the judiciary has been on the increase since the forced departure from the Supreme Court bench of Justice Anthony Gubbay,” it said.

The Herald report, quoting “highly placed sources” described the ruling as “totally unacceptable and had shocked legal authorities”.

“They said it was preposterous and would make the administration of justice in the country a laughing stock. The legal sources said the ruling had no precedent and that the justice system itself would not sustain it,” the paper said.

Makamba was immediately rearrested and is yet to be taken to court.

The Herald report betrayed a general government view when it said “government sources” described the ruling as “an attack on the country’s national security and an attempt by misguided elements within the judiciary to bring down law and order because there was no precedent for it anywhere in the civilised constitutional democracies worldwide.”

The ‘government source’ is further quoted as saying: "The courts do not have the capacity and will never have that capacity to say each one of the police officers in the country must first obtain an arrest warrant before they arrest anyone. The requirement for an arrest is reasonable suspicion.”

But Shumba who was tortured by President Mugabe’s regime while representing St Mary’s MP Job Sikhala said it was all a cynical plot by the government to intimidate judges to peddle the official line and interest.

"It is a further attempt by the Zimbabwe government to arm-twist the bench into handing down judgments in its favour. The AC views the story in the Herald as an attempt to defeat this democratic fundamental and in particular notes that with the advent of Jonathan Moyo as Minister of Publicity and Information, the government media has resorted to quoting unnamed sources to air government displeasure with dissent.

“Further examples of governement meddling with the Third Estate are evidenced by the forced resignation of Justice Majuru from the Adminstrative court a few weeks ago, and the unnecessary, ongoing and totally reprehensible harassment of Justice Benjamin Paradza. It is the AC’s view that in harassing the judiciary, the government of Zimbabwe is in breach of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and many other conventions to which it is a party.

“The AC urges the government, in particular the police to accept the rule of law. The police in Zimbabwe have not been known for their non-partisanship in enforcing court orders and this is immensely regrettable,” the commission said.

The Accountability Commission which has its headquarters in South Africa describes itself as non-partisan. It gathers and collates reports and affidavits from victims of human rights violations with a view to prosecuting the perpetrators when a new government takes over. It also pursues legal remedies on behalf of victims and against the perpetrators in neutral or international jurisdictions.
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