adminNqobile Tshili Chronicle Reporter
A BULAWAYO lawyer and a senior prison officer have been arrested after they connived to release a convicted criminal before he could serve his sentence.Tungamirai Nyengera, 36, of Shenje and Company Legal Practitioners and Absolom Hlupo, 46, a principal officer at the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) appeared in court yesterday facing fraud and obstruction of justice charges.
The duo denied the charges when they appeared before magistrate Sibongile Mpofu who is expected to make a ruling on their bail application today.
“Come back tomorrow at 11:15 for the bail judgment. Can you hold them at Grey Prison? Can they be given different cells away from other inmates,” said Mpofu.
For the State, Charles Danda said Nyengera and Hlupo devised a plan to set free a convict Lungisani Sibanda from Khami Prison on Tuesday last week.
“The accused persons acting in common purpose, hatched a plan to have a serving convict, Lungisani Sibanda, released from Khami Maximum Prison using a fraudulent warrant of liberation,” said Danda.
He said Nyengera gave a completed warrant of liberation to Hlupo which was handed to Superintendent Joe Matyavira who was processing the papers.
Mutyavira discovered that the warrant was a fake document and reported the matter to officials leading to the pair’s arrest.
Nyengera was represented by Mlamuli Ncube of Cheda and Partners while Hlupo was represented by Nozipho Dube of Moyo and Nyoni Legal practitioners.
Ncube said Nyengera was a perfect candidate for bail as he was a prominent lawyer.
“Ever since his arrest, he has been cooperating with police officers answering all their questions. He has no previous conviction. He is a prominent lawyer in this country. He has nowhere to hide. He knows that the long arm of law will catch up with him,” said Ncube.
He said the homicide detectives had completed their investigations and granting him bail was not going to affect the trial.
Dube, who was representing Hlupo, said the prison officer was a good candidate for bail as he has no previous criminal record.
She said Hlupo was at risk of being harmed by inmates whom he was guarding.
Online Reporter