Rushwaya claims discrimination after failed freedom bid attempts

SUSPENDED Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) president Henrietta Rushwaya was Thursday up in arms with the courts for granting bail to Ali Muhammad, her foreign co-accused, while she continued to languish in remand prison.

Through her lawyers, she described this as discriminatory.

Rushwaya was arrested in October this year at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare while trying to smuggle 6kg of gold to Dubai.

She claimed the loot belonged to Mohammed, a Pakistani national who is a licenced gold dealer.

Mohammed was later arrested and subsequently granted bail.

However, Rushwaya, who continues languishing in remand prison while being denied her own freedom, avers the granting of bail to a foreigner with an expired visa compared to her, a Zimbabwean with fixed abode within the country, was equal to discrimination.

"A Pakistani international with an expired VISA gets bail over a Zimbabwean with a fixed abode is discriminatory," Rushwaya said through her lawyers.

The former ZIFA boss is jointly charged with Mohammed, Central Intelligence Organisation officers Raphios Mufandauya and Steven Tserayi as well as her subordinate, Gift Karanda.

Except for Mohammed, the other co-accused were arrested after they allegedly tried to assist her pass through security check points at the national aviation facility.