- Duo claims their arrest was unlawful
HUMAN rights lawyer Douglas Coltart and journalist Leopold Munhende – including eight members of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union (Artuz) – are suing government for unlawful arrests and detention, assault and malicious prosecution.
The eight Artuz members, Obert Masarure, Gerald Tavengwa, Godfrey Chanda, Andrew Munguri, Nation Mudzitirwa, Tryvine Musokeri, Shepherd Tazvivengwa and Simon Drury, were engaged in a lawful protest on August 23, 2019 when they were nabbed by the police.
The other two, Coltart and Munhende, are professionals who were on duty when they were arrested by a team of police officers at the offices of the Finance ministry in Harare.
According the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) representing Coltart and the other litigants in the matter, the arresting officers reportedly did not issue the complainants a warned and cautioned statement as is required at law.
The group, except Munhende, was allegedly detained at Harare Central Police Station “overnight in conditions inconsistent with human dignity and subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment”.
The ZLHR said Coltart suffered bruises all over his body and sustained long-term damages to the nerves of his wrists.
“All our clients suffered from emotional shock, pain and suffering and were humiliated by being arrested in a public space.
“Damages claimed include damages for pain and suffering, contumella, nervous shock, loss of income, financial loss including medical expenses and constitutional damages; the sum to be computed in due course,” read the letter addressed to the Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage ministry by the ZLHR.
The year 2019 revealed a dark side for the Zimbabwean police as they seemed to target journalists and lawyers during protests.
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