News / National
Cop killer appears in court
10 Jul 2017 at 11:23hrs | Views
A 35 year old man from Harare's Glen View 7 suburb, Barnabas Mwanaka, who was arrested last Saturday for the alleged murder of police Constable Talkmore Phiri following skirmishes with his fellow vendors who are at large around Harvest House, appeared in court facing charges of murder.
Mwanaka, who is represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights was not asked to plead to the charges when he appeared before Harare Magistrate Tilda Mazhambe, but advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
According to the state led by Sebastian Mutizirwa, the accused together with his accomplices who are on the run, teamed up and attacked the deceased policeman who was part of the police reaction group escorting investigators to the Deeds Offices where property had been destroyed.
They used stones and booted feet to assault the deceased who had found himself out of the car ferrying them to the Deeds Office.
He was later rescued by his colleagues but was pronounced dead on arrival at Morris Depot.
The accused was later identified by a police officer who allegedly witnessed him taking part in the assault of the late police detail on the fateful day.
Mwanaka accused his arresting details of violating his constitutional rights by assaulting him with spikes, denying him legal representation and not informing him of the reasons for his arrest.
The magistrate instructed the state to investigate the complaints raised and remanded the accused to the 26th of July.
Mwanaka, who is represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights was not asked to plead to the charges when he appeared before Harare Magistrate Tilda Mazhambe, but advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
According to the state led by Sebastian Mutizirwa, the accused together with his accomplices who are on the run, teamed up and attacked the deceased policeman who was part of the police reaction group escorting investigators to the Deeds Offices where property had been destroyed.
They used stones and booted feet to assault the deceased who had found himself out of the car ferrying them to the Deeds Office.
He was later rescued by his colleagues but was pronounced dead on arrival at Morris Depot.
The accused was later identified by a police officer who allegedly witnessed him taking part in the assault of the late police detail on the fateful day.
Mwanaka accused his arresting details of violating his constitutional rights by assaulting him with spikes, denying him legal representation and not informing him of the reasons for his arrest.
The magistrate instructed the state to investigate the complaints raised and remanded the accused to the 26th of July.
Source - zbc
