Online Reporter
Post Reporter
A SENIOR magistrate stationed at the Mutare Civil Court – Xavier Chipato – has been arrested and arraigned before the same court on allegations of extortion charges.
Chipato (33), who is alleged to have extorted a court attendee, is facing a charge of extortion as defined in Section 134 and an alternative charge of bribery as defined in Section 170(1)(a)(i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23).
He recently appeared before Mutare provincial magistrate, Mrs Sekai Chiundura, while Mr Tirivanhu Mutyasira prosecuted.
The State alleged that between July 6 and 17, Chipato was presiding over a civil matter in which Juliet Vera was the defendant.
“On July 6, Chipato initiated contact with Vera and provided her with his personal contact number. On July 7, he called Vera and instructed her to bring a token of appreciation amounting to US$150 to him.
‘‘He assured her that in return, he would rule in her favour by setting aside the case against her due to improper service of summons,” said Mr Mutyasira.
It is alleged that the following day, Chipato presided over the matter and ruled that the summons had indeed been improperly served.
“A few hours after the court session, he made repeated WhatsApp calls to Vera, and explicitly demanded the US$150 payment. On July 12, the accused directly contacted Juliet Vera, and subsequently threatened her, stating that she would never win a civil case and that he was going to deal with her in a future case for failing to fulfil his financial demands.
“He presided over the main trial on July 17, after Vera failed to make the payment. During these proceedings, he denied her the opportunity to present her defence, accused her of wasting the court’s time, and immediately ruled against her by ordering her to vacate her shop and pay the claimed debt.
‘‘He acted unlawfully and in gross abuse of his judicial office for personal gain,” said Mr Mutyasira.
Investigations allegedly confirmed Chipato’s cellphone number through the EcoCash platform, where the account is registered in his name.
Chipato was remanded to November 14, on the following conditions – he deposits US$200 as bail, reports to the ZACC offices fortnightly, resides at his given address, and not to interfere with State witnesses.
