Fifth time unlucky for 13 MDC petrol bombs suspects

Fifth time unlucky for 13 MDC petrol bombs suspects

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By Staff Reporter

A ZIMBABWEAN magistrate on Wednesday turned down a FIFTH bail application by 13 opposition activists facing charges of setting off several petrol bombs across the country, their lawyer said.

Lawyer Alec Muchadehama said he would now approach the High Court
to secure the release of the activists, all of them members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Muchadehama said: “The magistrate dismissed our application today for the fifth time. We were also seeking that the magistrate recuse herself. We are now going to the High Court."

The 13 include two senior aides of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai -- his advisor Ian Makone and Glen View legislator, Paul Madzore.

The 13 were rounded up in a police swoop on Tuesday last week which saw the MDC HQ cordoned off. Several searches were conducted at several properties around Harare and police said they had recovered explosives.

Police also said one of the suspects had burns, suggesting he had been injured during one of the petrol bombings. Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena AND President Robert Mugabe have both pointed the finger of blame at the MDC, accusing the opposition party of getting support from western countries to destabilise the country.

The MDC rejects the accusations, and insists that the government is trying to justify a country-wide clampdown on opposition gatherings and arrests of its members.

“We are aware of Mugabe’s tired tricks of planting arms on perceived enemies since the days of the former PF-ZAPU led by Joshua Nkomo and Ndabaningi Sithole’s ZANU (Ndonga), which was falsely accused of plotting to kill Mugabe," said Tendai Biti, an MDC MP.

In all, police say 10 petrol bombs have exploded in recent weeks. Four police stations in Harare, Gweru, Mutare and Chitungwiza have so far been bombed. Several police officers have suffered burns during the attacks.

Meanwhile a mysterious fire gutted a dining hall at the University of Zimbabwe on Tuesday night.

Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said police are still investigating but he could not immediately say if it was a petrol bomb.

“We are still investigating, and we are not ruling out arson,” Bvudzijena said.

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