Suspected car thieves want case referred to Supreme Court

Leonard Ncube Court Reporter
THE lawyer representing two men suspected to be part of a gang that has been stealing cars in Bulawayo has made an application for the case to be referred to the Supreme Court complaining about his clients’ alleged torture by police. Shelton Gwatsvaira (30), of 11 Kay Avenue West Somerton who is believed to be the mastermind behind a number of vehicle thefts and Ezekia Ndodini (27) of H119 Njube were denied bail when they appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Sibongile Msipa last week.

They are being charged with theft of a motor vehicle.

Their lawyer, Mr Tanaka Muganyi of Dube-Banda, Nzarayapenga and Partners on Wednesday made an application for referral to the Constitutional Court in terms of Section 24(2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

He argued that the constitution protects every citizen from torture and is seeking the intervention of the Supreme Court to determine whether the right to protection of his clients was violated by the conduct of the police.

Mr Muganyi seeks the Supreme Court’s determination whether any information obtained by police from his clients as a result of torture violates the right to fair trial.

He said his clients deny ever leading the police to Killarney suburb where parts of the vehicle were recovered, adding that the police used Gwatsvaira’s father to lure his own son.

He said Gwatsvaira was denied sleep, tortured with batons and put in the boot of a car for more than 30 minutes while the investigating officer, Constable Mumpande, allegedly threatened to kill him if he denied the charges.

It is the defence counsel’s prayer that the matter be referred to the Supreme Court for determination of constitutional issues in the matter and pending that determination, the matter be postponed sine die.

The application comes as a result of complaints raised by Gwatsvaira and Ndodini that they were severely assaulted by the police and unlawfully detained in police holding cells for five days.

Mr Muganyi further submitted that Gwatsvaira was injured on his back and feet and photos of the injuries were presented as an exhibit in court.

On their last appearance, the magistrate had ordered that Gwatsvaira and Ndodini be examined by a medical doctor and that the prosecutor, Mr Malvern Nzombe, should investigate allegations of torture and over detention by the police.

Allegations by the State are that on 23 May, Gwatsvaira and Ndodini allegedly stole a Toyota Corolla belonging to Mr Partson Chipandambira, a communications officer in the President’s Office based in Hwange.

Mr Chipandambira of C30 Number 5 Lusumbani in Hwange parked his car at the corner of Herbert Chitepo Street and 13th Avenue while he entered a shop.

The court was told that the complainant locked the doors of the car.

Gwatsvaira and Ndodini who were in the company of an accomplice, Jivas Chizunza who is still at large, allegedly forcibly opened the doors of the car using an unknown object and drove off.

It is alleged that they fitted the vehicle with Mozambican number plates with registration number AAT636MP.

The court was told that Gwatsvaira drove the car to his uncle’s house, 261 Morgan Road in Killarney where he left it in the custody of a Ms Annah Dabvu.

Sometime last month, Chizunza allegedly approached Edmore Masaba of Pumula South who owns Ndachi Motors in Kelvin North and bought a wreckage of an accident damaged Corolla.

The wreckage was registered in the name of Mr Deepackkumar Shubash Morar of Kumalo.

Chizunza was handed the registration book, which he and his accomplices later used to obtain a new set of registration numbers for the stolen vehicle.

The court was told that Gwatsvaira, Ndodini and Chizunza allegedly removed the chassis from the stolen vehicle and replaced it with the one from the wreckage and also painted the interior of the bonnet to conceal evidence.

It is alleged that the three misrepresented to a Ms Fungai Chandambuka, a motor vehicle registration agent that they had lost number plates of their vehicle and used Mr Morar’s vehicle registration book to buy a new set of registration number plates from Zimpost offices.

Ndodini implicated his alleged accomplices when he was arrested at his house, leading to Gwatsvaira’s arrest while Chizunza fled.

Some of the parts of the vehicle were recovered in Newton West where the three had dumped them.

The vehicle was valued at $6 570.