News / National
Chihuri petitioned over activist's assault
24 Apr 2015 at 07:48hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) yesterday petitioned Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri to identify and charge anti-riot police officers in Harare who last Friday assaulted human rights activist Sydney Chisi without provocation.
Video footage of the incident, which has gone viral on social media platforms, shows about 20 police officers indiscriminately bashing Chisi with baton sticks at the corner of First Street and Jason Moyo Avenue in Harare.
The petition was copied to the officer commanding police Harare district, the civil division of the Attorney-General, Prosecutor-General, National Prosecuting Authority and the Human Rights Commission.
Prior to the assault, Chisi, who is director of Youth Initiative for Democracy in Zimbabwe, had participated in the anti-xenophobia demonstration at the South African Embassy.
Chisi said yesterday beating is a testimony to a decade-and-a-half-long call that Zimbabwe does not respect human rights, let alone the rule of law.
He also said that targeting an individual living with disability with such brutality shows that the current government is afraid of its shadows.
While he was the subject of police brutality, the nation, peace-loving citizens across society and the international community must wake up and smell the coffee that the Zanu PF-led government is not so genuine in its commitments to the new Constitution.
Video footage of the incident, which has gone viral on social media platforms, shows about 20 police officers indiscriminately bashing Chisi with baton sticks at the corner of First Street and Jason Moyo Avenue in Harare.
The petition was copied to the officer commanding police Harare district, the civil division of the Attorney-General, Prosecutor-General, National Prosecuting Authority and the Human Rights Commission.
Chisi said yesterday beating is a testimony to a decade-and-a-half-long call that Zimbabwe does not respect human rights, let alone the rule of law.
He also said that targeting an individual living with disability with such brutality shows that the current government is afraid of its shadows.
While he was the subject of police brutality, the nation, peace-loving citizens across society and the international community must wake up and smell the coffee that the Zanu PF-led government is not so genuine in its commitments to the new Constitution.
Source - newsday
