News / Local
3 Zanu-PF youths get 5 year jail terms for kidnapping and extortion
02 Apr 2012 at 21:25hrs | Views
Three Zanu-PF youths from Bulawayo who were last week convicted of extortion and kidnapping after they rounded commuter omnibus touts demanding money to fuel vehicles in President Robert Mugabe's motorcade have been sentenced to five years in prison each.
Bulawayo magistrate Mark Dzira however suspended one year from for each of the three youths sentence.
They are Hardlife Ndlovu (29) of Emakhandeni, Nqobani Mlilo (31) and Mthunzi Mabhena (28) both of Nkulumane.
Dzira had remanded the three in custody last week to allow their lawyer Advocate Sabelo Sibanda to analyse the case but indicated that there was substantial evidence linking the three to the crime.
"The State managed to establish that you really committed the crime because there was no reason why the complainants should have claimed you did that if you had not done so," he said.
On March 7, Ndlovu, Mlilo, and Mabhena went to Macs Garage in the city centre where they kidnapped the touts for commuter omnibuses plying Gwanda, Filabusi and Masvingo routes.
They took them to Davis Hall where they demanded $50 per day from users of each bus terminus, claiming it was for fuelling Mugabe's motorcade. Mugabe visited Bulawayo at that time preside over the official opening of the chief's conference.
Bulawayo magistrate Mark Dzira however suspended one year from for each of the three youths sentence.
They are Hardlife Ndlovu (29) of Emakhandeni, Nqobani Mlilo (31) and Mthunzi Mabhena (28) both of Nkulumane.
Dzira had remanded the three in custody last week to allow their lawyer Advocate Sabelo Sibanda to analyse the case but indicated that there was substantial evidence linking the three to the crime.
"The State managed to establish that you really committed the crime because there was no reason why the complainants should have claimed you did that if you had not done so," he said.
On March 7, Ndlovu, Mlilo, and Mabhena went to Macs Garage in the city centre where they kidnapped the touts for commuter omnibuses plying Gwanda, Filabusi and Masvingo routes.
They took them to Davis Hall where they demanded $50 per day from users of each bus terminus, claiming it was for fuelling Mugabe's motorcade. Mugabe visited Bulawayo at that time preside over the official opening of the chief's conference.
Source - Byo24News
