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International police hunt for former Mugabe favourite Minister
15 May 2019 at 16:36hrs | Views
Former Zimbabwe tourism minister Walter Mzembi who skipped the country after being arraigned for corruption has been placed on the interpol wanted list after he failed to appear in court in Harare Wednesday afternoon.
The flamboyant Mzembi was rumored to be among former president Robert Mugabe's favourite ministers and one of the so-called G40 kingpins.
The G40 is a group of younger people in their 40s and below who were said to be angling to succeed the nonagerian president.
Corruption cases were opened against them when Emmerson Mnangagwa took over in a move viewed as persecution to derail their succession plans.
Prosecutor Brian Vito yesterday said the State had concluded that Mzembi, who claimed to be receiving treatment for cancer of the colon, had no intention of appearing in court.
He said the State had since notified interpol to arrest Mzembi in South Africa as he was a fugitive from justice.
Mzembi's co-accused Aaron Mushoriwa and Margaret Sangarwe have since applied for removal from remand or separation of trial, saying they have been on remand for more than a year and the case has been failing to take off because no one knows where Mzembi is.
The State opposed the application and sought fa longer remand from magistrate Mr Hoseah Mujaya.
The pair's Lawyers argued that the State was wasting time and their extradition application was fraught with irregularities and did not meet the requirements of the Extradition Act.
The lawyers said what the State wanted to do was a violation of human rights as they wanted South African police to kidnap Mzembi and hand him over to them at the border.
The magistrate said separation of trial would serve justice as Mzembi's co-accused were suffering through no fault of their own.
He said the trial was being postponed for the last time and if the State did not produce Mzembi by July 30, separation would be the way to go.
The flamboyant Mzembi was rumored to be among former president Robert Mugabe's favourite ministers and one of the so-called G40 kingpins.
The G40 is a group of younger people in their 40s and below who were said to be angling to succeed the nonagerian president.
Corruption cases were opened against them when Emmerson Mnangagwa took over in a move viewed as persecution to derail their succession plans.
Prosecutor Brian Vito yesterday said the State had concluded that Mzembi, who claimed to be receiving treatment for cancer of the colon, had no intention of appearing in court.
He said the State had since notified interpol to arrest Mzembi in South Africa as he was a fugitive from justice.
The State opposed the application and sought fa longer remand from magistrate Mr Hoseah Mujaya.
The pair's Lawyers argued that the State was wasting time and their extradition application was fraught with irregularities and did not meet the requirements of the Extradition Act.
The lawyers said what the State wanted to do was a violation of human rights as they wanted South African police to kidnap Mzembi and hand him over to them at the border.
The magistrate said separation of trial would serve justice as Mzembi's co-accused were suffering through no fault of their own.
He said the trial was being postponed for the last time and if the State did not produce Mzembi by July 30, separation would be the way to go.
Source - Byo24News
