Charges dropped against Chamisa

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-The trial failed to take off ostensibly because no magistrate in Manicaland is prepared to try him. We also note with fear and trepidation the alleged intimidation of the magistrate by state security minister Didymus Mutasa,” said Innocent Gonese, MP and MDC secretary for justice.
The Chinamasa case augments the infamous global view that independence of the judiciary has been compromised under Mugabe.
-The MDC notes with concern the events that took place at Rusape Magistrate’s court last Tuesday. They are not only disturbing, but are inimical to democracy and the rule of law, as opposed to the rule of men,” said Gonese.
-The end result of this sordid episode was that charges against Chinamasa were withdrawn before plea while the trial of his co-accused proceeded effectively resulting in separation of trials or selective application of the law.”
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Forum, a coalition of 16 human rights NGOs in Zimbabwe, has issued a statement saying the over-reaching arm of the executive was against the doctrine of the rule of law.
-In this instance, the withdrawal of the charges (against Chinamasa) seems to imply that the minister is above the law. The right to equality before the law is fundamental to any just and democratic society and is a pillar upon which the doctrine of the rule of law is founded,” says the statement. – Ed Tobaiwa