The provincial magistrate is being charged with criminal abuse of
office. He was arrested on Thursday night and is being detained at
Mutare Central police station.
Human rights lawyer, Trust Maanda, said the arrest was illegal and a serious blow to the adminstration of justice.
It's illegal to arrest a magistrate for doing his job, Maanda said on
Friday. If they (state) are not happy with his ruling they are
supposed to appeal to a higher court instead of arresting a magistrate.
It is frightening if a magistrate is arrested because he has passed a
judgment that is not popular with the state.
Magistrate Chipadze is accused of improperly allowing Bennet's lawyers
to deposit bail money and complying with other bail conditions on
Tuesday.
After the bail money and his passport had been deposited with the clerk
of court on Tuesday a warrant for Bennett's liberty was issued. But the
warrant of liberty was immediately seized by a senior prison official,
Zondai Nyatsanza, who then disappeared with it.
It was not immediately clear when Chipadze will be taken to court.
A top ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his pick for deputy
minister of agriculture, Bennett faces charges of terrorism,
insurgency, sabotage or banditry.
He denies the charges as politically motivated. Bennett was arrested on
February 13 at a small airport outside Harare as he was leaving the
country for South Africa. He was granted a US$2 000 bail last week by a
High Court judge but the state appealed against the ruling.
The hugely popular Bennett is the most senior of several MDC members
languishing in jail on charges that the party says are trumped up.
Tsvangirai said last week that it would be difficult for the unity
government to move forward while the activists remain in jail.
Meanwhile the arrest of Chipadze has sparked outrage in Muatare with
human rights campaigners questioning the commitment of President Robert
Mugabe and his Zanu (PF) to the unity government.
David Mutambirwa, a social- political commentator, said the
magistrate's arrest was a clear sign there was mistrust within the
unity government. It shows that the government has not changed its
ways of suppressing the people's freedoms, he said.
ZimOnline.
Post published in: News