Zim court imposes 20 year jail sentences on opposition party officials

HIGH Court Judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu on Monday 12 December 2016 sentenced three opposition political party officials to serve 20 years each in jail after he convicted them for the murder of a Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Inspector Petros Mutedza. Justice Chinembiri Bhunu sentenced Glenview Ward 32 Councillor Tungamirai Madzokere aged 41, Yvonne Musarurwa aged 29 and Last Maengahama aged 40, to serve 20 years each in prison after he found them guilty of murder with actual intent. Phineas Nhatarikwa aged 50, who was convicted for being an accessory to the crime was fined $500 while three years were suspended on condition that he is not an accessory for any offence in five years. The four, who are known opposition political party officials affiliated to former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party and former Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), were part of the 29 Glenview residents who were arrested in 2011 and charged with contravening Section 47 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. 22 of the 29 accused persons were found not guilty and released at the close of the State’s case in 2013 while one of the MDC-T activists Rebecca Mafikeni succumbed to ill health while at Chikurubi Maximum Prison. The other 3 were acquitted when they appeared before Justice Bhunu on Monday 6 September 2016. Prosecutors claimed that on 29 May 2011, the Glenview residents chanted MDC-T party slogans denouncing police officers while throwing stones and empty beer bottles at them and that their actions resulted in the death of Inspector Mutedza.