News / National
13 activists pays admission of guilt fines for the 'public nuisance' charge
31 Jul 2011 at 15:43hrs | Views
Thirteen members of the pressure group Restoration of Human Rights, who were arrested on Wednesday for protesting outside Harare High Court in support of MDC-T activists accused of killing a policeman in May, were charged on Friday with 'public nuisance'.
The activists had initially refused to pay admission of guilt fines, preferring to have their day in court, but eventually agreed to pay a fine of US$10 each after the police reduced their charge from that of 'unlawful gathering' with the intention of causing public violence to that of 'public nuisance' under the Criminal Codification Law Reform Act.
Their lawyer Gift Mutisi said although they were demonstrating peacefully, the activists agreed to the public nuisance charge because they could not afford a prolonged legal battle or being in custody around month end.
The defense lawyer said by late Friday afternoon about five activists were still in custody waiting for their families to raise the money needed for their release.
Restoration of Human Rights accuse the police of bias, saying that no action was taken against Zanu-PF supporters who assaulted a legislator and journalists in parliament last Saturday.
The activists had initially refused to pay admission of guilt fines, preferring to have their day in court, but eventually agreed to pay a fine of US$10 each after the police reduced their charge from that of 'unlawful gathering' with the intention of causing public violence to that of 'public nuisance' under the Criminal Codification Law Reform Act.
Their lawyer Gift Mutisi said although they were demonstrating peacefully, the activists agreed to the public nuisance charge because they could not afford a prolonged legal battle or being in custody around month end.
The defense lawyer said by late Friday afternoon about five activists were still in custody waiting for their families to raise the money needed for their release.
Restoration of Human Rights accuse the police of bias, saying that no action was taken against Zanu-PF supporters who assaulted a legislator and journalists in parliament last Saturday.
Source - VOA
