News / National
Mujuru exhumation dismissed by court
06 Feb 2012 at 14:47hrs | Views
The application by the Mujuru family lawyer for an exhumation of the late Retired General Solomon Mujuru and a second post-mortem was dismissed by the Regional Magistrate presiding over the inquest.
This emerged on the final day of the inquest set to establish the circumstances which contributed to the mysterious fire incident which claimed the life of the late Retired General.
In dismissing the application made by the Mujuru family through their legal representative Thakor Kewada, Regional Magistrate Walter Chikwanha who is the coroner in the inquest said he will not grant the request sought given that it would contravene Rule 4 Sub Rule 2 of the Inquest Proceedings Regulations.
He added that the law does not allow persons to address the court on matters of fact, and the role of lawyers in inquest proceedings is merely to assist the court through leading witnesses and clarifying hazy areas.
He added that the duty of analysing the facts gathered including how the post-mortem was conducted is exclusively for the magistrate and he will analyse all the evidence in its totality to arrive at a conclusion on how the deceased met his death.
He also told Thakor Kewada that it is not the responsibility of the court to make an order in respect of exhumation, and sited other laws which are applied on such areas.
The 39th witness and the final person to assist the court was Vice President Joice Mujuru whose statement on the events that took place when her husband died was read in open court.
After the proceedings, Vice President Mujuru expressed satisfaction at the manner the three week inquest was conducted.
The Mujuru family legal representative, Thakor Kewada also expressed satisfaction at the proceedings and said they now wait for a ruling on the matter so that the family can find closure.
Regional Magistrate Chikwanha said having collected all the relevant testimonies from the 39 witnesses, including experts, he will now analyse the facts and come to a position concluding the matter at a date to be advised.
This emerged on the final day of the inquest set to establish the circumstances which contributed to the mysterious fire incident which claimed the life of the late Retired General.
In dismissing the application made by the Mujuru family through their legal representative Thakor Kewada, Regional Magistrate Walter Chikwanha who is the coroner in the inquest said he will not grant the request sought given that it would contravene Rule 4 Sub Rule 2 of the Inquest Proceedings Regulations.
He added that the law does not allow persons to address the court on matters of fact, and the role of lawyers in inquest proceedings is merely to assist the court through leading witnesses and clarifying hazy areas.
He added that the duty of analysing the facts gathered including how the post-mortem was conducted is exclusively for the magistrate and he will analyse all the evidence in its totality to arrive at a conclusion on how the deceased met his death.
He also told Thakor Kewada that it is not the responsibility of the court to make an order in respect of exhumation, and sited other laws which are applied on such areas.
The 39th witness and the final person to assist the court was Vice President Joice Mujuru whose statement on the events that took place when her husband died was read in open court.
After the proceedings, Vice President Mujuru expressed satisfaction at the manner the three week inquest was conducted.
The Mujuru family legal representative, Thakor Kewada also expressed satisfaction at the proceedings and said they now wait for a ruling on the matter so that the family can find closure.
Regional Magistrate Chikwanha said having collected all the relevant testimonies from the 39 witnesses, including experts, he will now analyse the facts and come to a position concluding the matter at a date to be advised.
Source - zbc
