News / National
Mtetwa in 'Mugabe dogs' charge
09 Apr 2013 at 06:37hrs | Views
The Attorney General's Office has come up with new allegations against prominent human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, in a bid to bolster its case against the feisty legal practitioner.
State prosecutors last Friday served Mtetwa's lawyers with the allegations together with state papers to prepare for her trial which commences on May 27.
State papers have been added new allegations that were previously not included in the original state papers and now read "Stop whatever you are doing, its unconstitutional, illegal and undemocratic. You confused cockroaches" as well as "Murimbwa dzaMugabe" which prosecutors translated to mean "You are Mugabe's dogs."
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the new allegations are a "desperate bid to bolster its case against the feisty legal practitioner."
The allegations were not included in the original papers used in Mtetwa's initial remand proceedings, following her arrest last month.
Mtetwa was arrested during a raid on the MDC-T offices in Harare and charged with 'obstructing the course of justice', on allegations she insulted police officers who were arresting her clients.
Meanwhile, Mtetwa's own clients, who she was attending to at the time of her arrest, will stand trial on the 13th May. The four, including three former public prosecutors, Thabani Mpofu, Felix Matsinde and Mehluli Tshuma, as well as a Harare City councillor Warship Dumba, were arrested the day after the constitutional referendum last month and then held behind bars for over a week.
Mpofu and Matsinde are members of staff in the research division of the Prime Minister's office. Tshuma and Dumba are believed to have been assisting the research team. It is understood the group was compiling a dossier of large scale corruption involving high ranking Zanu-PF ministers in government.
The four were arrested last month after a police blitz that included unwarranted searches of their homes. The Avondale based communications office of the Prime Minister was also later searched by police.
State prosecutors last Friday served Mtetwa's lawyers with the allegations together with state papers to prepare for her trial which commences on May 27.
State papers have been added new allegations that were previously not included in the original state papers and now read "Stop whatever you are doing, its unconstitutional, illegal and undemocratic. You confused cockroaches" as well as "Murimbwa dzaMugabe" which prosecutors translated to mean "You are Mugabe's dogs."
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the new allegations are a "desperate bid to bolster its case against the feisty legal practitioner."
Mtetwa was arrested during a raid on the MDC-T offices in Harare and charged with 'obstructing the course of justice', on allegations she insulted police officers who were arresting her clients.
Meanwhile, Mtetwa's own clients, who she was attending to at the time of her arrest, will stand trial on the 13th May. The four, including three former public prosecutors, Thabani Mpofu, Felix Matsinde and Mehluli Tshuma, as well as a Harare City councillor Warship Dumba, were arrested the day after the constitutional referendum last month and then held behind bars for over a week.
Mpofu and Matsinde are members of staff in the research division of the Prime Minister's office. Tshuma and Dumba are believed to have been assisting the research team. It is understood the group was compiling a dossier of large scale corruption involving high ranking Zanu-PF ministers in government.
The four were arrested last month after a police blitz that included unwarranted searches of their homes. The Avondale based communications office of the Prime Minister was also later searched by police.
Source - DN
