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Tsvangirai's chief elections agent bail appeal dismissed
09 Aug 2013 at 09:14hrs | Views
HARARE - Morgen Komichi, the chief elections officer in Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC will continue languishing in remand prison after High Court Judge Hlekani Mwayera threw out his bail appeal yesterday.
Komichi, 49, is being charged with fraud and contravening the Electoral Act after he presented to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), a ballot paper allegedly picked up from a dustbin at the Harare International Conference Centre, the commission's election command centre.
He allegedly got the ballot paper from an informant identified as Michael Phiri.
Magistrate Anita Tshuma last week, denied Komichi bail, ruling that his release would incite public outcry and was likely to trigger disorder.
She also said Komichi was facing a serious offence and if freed on bail he would interfere with State witnesses as investigations were still ongoing.
Mwayera yesterday said Tshuma had not misdirected herself in arriving at such a decision, arguing that her ruling was in line with the prevailing situation.
"The findings of the lower court were well pinned on the principles of bail. Accordingly the appeal is dismissed," Mwayera said.
Komichi's lawyer Andrew Makoni had told the court Tshuma erred in denying his client bail.
"The seriousness of an offence on its own is not a sufficient ground of denying the applicant (Komichi) bail," Makoni said.
He added that Komichi had a strong alibi in the case, considering the fact that the person who handed him the ballot paper was an identifiable person.
Makoni said the State should not arrest in order to investigate, claiming police were narrowing their case on Komichi, without pursuing Phiri.
However, prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba said the Phiri being referred to by Komichi as the informant was fictitious and investigations were still ongoing.
Nyazamba said according to evidence proffered by the investigating officer in the case, it appeared Komichi was working as part of a syndicate, hence might interfere with investigations.
Allegations against Komichi arose on July 25 when a ballot envelope was found in a rubbish bin outside Zec's command centre, leading to his subsequent arrest at his Bluffhill home three days later.
Komichi, 49, is being charged with fraud and contravening the Electoral Act after he presented to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), a ballot paper allegedly picked up from a dustbin at the Harare International Conference Centre, the commission's election command centre.
He allegedly got the ballot paper from an informant identified as Michael Phiri.
Magistrate Anita Tshuma last week, denied Komichi bail, ruling that his release would incite public outcry and was likely to trigger disorder.
She also said Komichi was facing a serious offence and if freed on bail he would interfere with State witnesses as investigations were still ongoing.
Mwayera yesterday said Tshuma had not misdirected herself in arriving at such a decision, arguing that her ruling was in line with the prevailing situation.
"The findings of the lower court were well pinned on the principles of bail. Accordingly the appeal is dismissed," Mwayera said.
Komichi's lawyer Andrew Makoni had told the court Tshuma erred in denying his client bail.
"The seriousness of an offence on its own is not a sufficient ground of denying the applicant (Komichi) bail," Makoni said.
He added that Komichi had a strong alibi in the case, considering the fact that the person who handed him the ballot paper was an identifiable person.
Makoni said the State should not arrest in order to investigate, claiming police were narrowing their case on Komichi, without pursuing Phiri.
However, prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba said the Phiri being referred to by Komichi as the informant was fictitious and investigations were still ongoing.
Nyazamba said according to evidence proffered by the investigating officer in the case, it appeared Komichi was working as part of a syndicate, hence might interfere with investigations.
Allegations against Komichi arose on July 25 when a ballot envelope was found in a rubbish bin outside Zec's command centre, leading to his subsequent arrest at his Bluffhill home three days later.
Source - DailyNews
