News / National
Timba sues police for unlawful arrest
02 Jul 2011 at 14:52hrs | Views
The Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Jameson Timba, who was recently arrested for insulting President Mugabe, has instructed his lawyers to institute legal action against the police for abuse of office and unlawful arrest after spending nearly three days in custody. Timba's lawyer, Selby Hwacha, confirmed he has been instructed to sue police officers behind the arrest of his client which intensified tensions in the inclusive government.
"I am working on the letters to sue the police for the unlawful arrest of my client. My client is of the opinion that the officers behind his arrest last Friday abused their offices," he said.
"I have just received that instruction from my client. I am compiling the names of the officers to face the legal action. I am sure I would have sent the letters of intention to sue before the end of this week," he added.
Timba was picked up by police outside his office on Friday at about 4:30pm on allegations stemming from newspaper articles that appeared in two weeklies.
The police claimed he insinuated in the articles that President Mugabe had "lied" about what transpired at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit held in South Africa this month.
Timba was only released on Sunday after a special court presi-ded over by High Court Judge, Joseph Musakwa, ruled that his in-carceration was unconstitutional.
Judge Musakwa, however, said his order did not stop the State from bringing Timba to court on the same charges.
His ruling followed a Saturday night court order compelling the police to bring Timba to court and justify his incarceration.
Timba's lawyers submitted that police had breached their client's constitutional right by denying him legal representation, food and barred him from communicating with anyone. The lawyers also denied that Timba had called President Robert Mugabe a liar, saying police were basing their charges on newspaper reports. Hwacha said his client had no case to answer, adding that as of yesterday police had not indicated what crime Timba had committed.
"At the moment, we have not heard anything from the police. There is nothing. To us, the case is dead in the water," he said.
Timba was seething with anger yesterday.
He said: "I will hunt them one-by-one, those who caused the arrest, planned it and executed it. If I don't get justice in my own motherland, I will get it elsewhere because torture by deprivation of food is a crime against humanity punishable under international law."
Timba recently wrote that the version of events being narrated by politicians from ZANU-PF were untrue.
"I attended the SADC Troika meeting held at Livingstone on March 31, 2011. I also attended the extraordinary summit of SADC held at Sandton in South Africa on June 12, 2011. The distortions of the outcome of the summit being peddled by some in ZANU-PF and the public media have reached dishonest proportions, which border on insanity," wrote Timba.
The articles sparked outrage within ZANU-PF with the party's Politburo member, Jonathan Moyo, calling for the arrest of Timba along with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who told supporters in Gweru recently that President Mugabe had been untruthful about what transpired in South Africa.
"I am working on the letters to sue the police for the unlawful arrest of my client. My client is of the opinion that the officers behind his arrest last Friday abused their offices," he said.
"I have just received that instruction from my client. I am compiling the names of the officers to face the legal action. I am sure I would have sent the letters of intention to sue before the end of this week," he added.
Timba was picked up by police outside his office on Friday at about 4:30pm on allegations stemming from newspaper articles that appeared in two weeklies.
The police claimed he insinuated in the articles that President Mugabe had "lied" about what transpired at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit held in South Africa this month.
Timba was only released on Sunday after a special court presi-ded over by High Court Judge, Joseph Musakwa, ruled that his in-carceration was unconstitutional.
Judge Musakwa, however, said his order did not stop the State from bringing Timba to court on the same charges.
His ruling followed a Saturday night court order compelling the police to bring Timba to court and justify his incarceration.
Timba's lawyers submitted that police had breached their client's constitutional right by denying him legal representation, food and barred him from communicating with anyone. The lawyers also denied that Timba had called President Robert Mugabe a liar, saying police were basing their charges on newspaper reports. Hwacha said his client had no case to answer, adding that as of yesterday police had not indicated what crime Timba had committed.
"At the moment, we have not heard anything from the police. There is nothing. To us, the case is dead in the water," he said.
Timba was seething with anger yesterday.
He said: "I will hunt them one-by-one, those who caused the arrest, planned it and executed it. If I don't get justice in my own motherland, I will get it elsewhere because torture by deprivation of food is a crime against humanity punishable under international law."
Timba recently wrote that the version of events being narrated by politicians from ZANU-PF were untrue.
"I attended the SADC Troika meeting held at Livingstone on March 31, 2011. I also attended the extraordinary summit of SADC held at Sandton in South Africa on June 12, 2011. The distortions of the outcome of the summit being peddled by some in ZANU-PF and the public media have reached dishonest proportions, which border on insanity," wrote Timba.
The articles sparked outrage within ZANU-PF with the party's Politburo member, Jonathan Moyo, calling for the arrest of Timba along with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who told supporters in Gweru recently that President Mugabe had been untruthful about what transpired in South Africa.
Source - Fingaz
