News / National
Bulawayo protestors granted bail
11 Jul 2016 at 13:38hrs | Views
THE 88 protestors, including three juveniles, arrested following last Wednesday's nationwide stay-away, have been granted $80 bail each and are set to appear in court on July 21, 2016 to answer criminal nuisance charges.
Bulawayo Magistrates Court released two of the juveniles into the custody of their guardians, while the third was sent to a juvenile centre as his guardians had not yet been located.
Lawyer Tanaka Muganyi, who co-represented the protesters, confirmed to Radio Dialogue that the 88 and four others arrested earlier, had been granted bail and remanded to July 21st.
The defence said it would be a difficult process to raise the money because it is on record the accused are unemployed.
"Setting such a high bail is unfair and unfortunate, especially for ordinary citizens who were just rounded up in a drag and arrest operation," said Muganyi.
Abammeli Human Rights Lawyers' Network co-ordinator Tineyi Mukwewa said they key principles of justice have not been met with regards to the matter.
"One of the key principles is that justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done and in this particular case, one can safely say justice has not been done considering the fact 90 percent of those that were in custody are unemployed. So where can they access $80, when they are not working, that is a crucial point. However civil society, relatives and others are mobilisng resources so that they can provide bail for those currently in custody," said Mukwewa.
Seven lawyers, including Lison Ncube, Jonathan Tsvangirai, Dumisani Dube and Muganyi, through the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Abammeli Human Rights Lawyers are co-representing the group of 88.
They argued every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty and that the country's Constitution gives all persons the right to bail despite the crime they may be facing.
Bulawayo Magistrates Court released two of the juveniles into the custody of their guardians, while the third was sent to a juvenile centre as his guardians had not yet been located.
Lawyer Tanaka Muganyi, who co-represented the protesters, confirmed to Radio Dialogue that the 88 and four others arrested earlier, had been granted bail and remanded to July 21st.
The defence said it would be a difficult process to raise the money because it is on record the accused are unemployed.
"Setting such a high bail is unfair and unfortunate, especially for ordinary citizens who were just rounded up in a drag and arrest operation," said Muganyi.
"One of the key principles is that justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done and in this particular case, one can safely say justice has not been done considering the fact 90 percent of those that were in custody are unemployed. So where can they access $80, when they are not working, that is a crucial point. However civil society, relatives and others are mobilisng resources so that they can provide bail for those currently in custody," said Mukwewa.
Seven lawyers, including Lison Ncube, Jonathan Tsvangirai, Dumisani Dube and Muganyi, through the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Abammeli Human Rights Lawyers are co-representing the group of 88.
They argued every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty and that the country's Constitution gives all persons the right to bail despite the crime they may be facing.
Source - Radio Dialogue
