The Adventist Lawyers Association (ALA) has condemned the arrest of Advocate Thabani Mpofu today for allegedly being involved in a case he undertook last year saying the act stifles the right of legal practitioners to exercise their roles freely.
The association has pledged to monitor that due process is followed and prays for the prosecution of Mpofu and all lawyers to stop.
“The Adventist Lawyers Association notes with concern the arrest of Advocate Thabani Mpofu on the allegations of defeating or obstructing the course of justice in connection with a matter in which he represented a known litigant in the Constitutional Court in January 2019.
“We call for those in authority, judicial and executive to allow justice to prevail without favour as advocate Mpofu was conducting his duties as an advocate of the Superior Courts of Zimbabwe, a duty he has always faithfully executed,” reads the statement.
The Association is further concerned that his arrest was predicted by 11 armed men besieging the advocate’s home not once but twice within a period of 12 hours.
“The association condemns the said arrest and views it as a cowardly act and an attempt to intimidate Advocate Mpofu, all advocates and legal practitioners in the exercise of their constitutional right of practicing a vocation of their choice,” said the statement.
The association said it was at pains to comprehend the timing and nature of arrest given that the world in general and Zimbabwe in particular is grappling with a plague of COVID 19 and at such unfortunate times the state elects to channel the nation’s meager resources towards intimidating practitioners.
It also blamed the state for silencing the voice of reason