Online Reporter
Zvikomborero Parafini
Court Reporter
PROPHETIC Healing and Deliverance Ministries founder Walter Magaya is set to take the witness stand today in a bid to support his application for referral to the Constitutional Court as he wants his rape trial held in open court.
This application arises after the State successfully moved to have his rape trial heard in camera, a decision intended to protect witnesses deemed vulnerable.
Through his lawyers, Messrs Admire Rubaya and Everson Chatambudza, Magaya has submitted an affidavit outlining the constitutional questions he wishes the superior court to address.
He appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mrs Estere Chivasa, where he expressed his concerns regarding the legal proceedings.
In his affidavit, Magaya requests that the Constitutional Court consider whether magistrate Mrs Chivasa’s order for adult, non-vulnerable witnesses to testify in his rape trial through intermediaries in a “Victim Friendly Court” is consistent with the constitutional guarantees found in sections 70(1)(h), 69(1), 86(3)(e), and 56(1) of the country’s Constitution.
He argues that the decision to have the matter heard in camera violates his absolute right to a fair hearing, questioning whether the court can genuinely ensure fairness while adopting such a restrictive measure.
Magaya said conducting trials in an open court was a fundamental procedural right that should not be compromised.
In his founding affidavit, he states that he was taken aback by what he perceives as the court’s partiality.
