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Court Reporter
THE trial of former Nyanga North MP and MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora and 19 others who are facing charges of public violence committed in 2011 has been slated for September 22.The case will be handled by Rusape regional magistrate Mr Livingstone Chipadza.
Rusape area prosecutor Mr Tirivanhu Mutyasira will prosecute.
The trial was initially meant for last Monday, but was postponed to September after the defence lawyer, Mr Jeremiah Bamu, made an application for postponement arguing that the prosecution had only served State papers to Mwonzora only.
He said the 19 other accused persons were not served, inhabiting them to adequately prepare their defence.
The offence was committed on February 13, 2011, when the former Copac co-chair was arrested with some 31 MDC-T party followers in Nyanga North for allegedly assaulting Zanu-PF supporters.
However, Mwonzora will stand in the dock with 19 others for trial on September 22, 23 and 24.
This follows revelations in court that three suspects have since died, while 10 others could not be located.
Mr Mutyasira has since applied for separation of trial, which the court granted.
Mr Bamu made an initial application seeking the case to be referred to Nyanga.
Mr Bamu argued that the transfer of the case to Rusape, some 170km away from the accused’s homes, was a financial burden on his clients in terms of food, transport and accommodation.
However, Mr Mutyasira opposed the application arguing that it was the prosecution’s discretion to decide which court to place a case, without being led by the defence.
He said the matter was placed before the regional court because of its superior nature.
Mr Chipadza dismissed the application and ordered the trial to continue.
This prompted Mr Bamu to make a second application seeking postponement arguing that only Mwonzora had been served with State papers and the rest were not.
He said the other clients need time to adequately prepare their defence.
Mr Chipadza accepted and postponed it to September 22 for trial.
According to the State, in February 2011, Mwonzora and MDC-T supporters held a meeting at Chatindo School, Nyamaropa, where Zanu-PF youths wanted to play social soccer.
The State alleged the group, at the instigation of Mwonzora, attacked Zanu-PF youths and forcibly ejected them from the school.
It is the state’s case that some of the youths were injured and rushed to the nearby Regina Coeli Hospital, where Mwonzora and his co-accused followed them and damaged some buildings.
Mwonzora allegedly vanished from the scene following the arrival of the police.
The trial has also exposed the financial difficulties facing the MDC-T, with Mwonzora extending a begging bowl to the public on feeling that the financial burden was too much to see them through what should be a lengthy trial.
“The State has 24 witnesses and that means we have a very, very long trial,” Mwonzora said, adding, “conservatively, we are looking at 10 days and for these villagers, I am looking at 10 times $320 for the trip.
“A single trip is costing us $320 which is $18 per villager to travel. An average lunch would be a dollar, which means that would cost us about $3 a villager per day without any drink.
“In some instances, such as 22, 23 and 24 September, we will be staying in Rusape as our trial would be continuous and average accommodation conservatively is $15 per villager.”
However, the group’s legal charges are being handled by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
Online Reporter