HARARE - The MDC strongly condemns the blatant disregard of the law by residual elements fighting the inclusive government following the State's non-compliance with a High court order to release MDC Treasurer-General and deputy Minister for Agriculture designate, On Tuesday, a High Court judge, Justice Tedius Karwi ordered the
immediate release of Bennett after throwing out a State appeal
denying his release.
Two senior prison officers, the Officer Commanding Prisons in
Manicaland, Senior Assistant Commissioner Albert Mandinika and Chief
Superintendent Zondai Nyatsanza, the chief staff officer in Manicaland,
confiscated his warrant of liberation papers and disappeared with them.
Bennett remains unlawfully in custody despite a High Court order to
have him released and despite his lawyers having paid the US$2 000 bail
to the clerk of court.
The wanton disregard of the rule of law, the brazen trampling of citizens’
rights and the chicanery to stand in the way of court orders flies in
the face of the new era and the new spirit of unity that had begun to
be engendered by the inclusive government.
The MDC calls for the unconditional release of Bennett and other
MDC activists who continue to be illegally detained on trumped-up
charges of banditry and terrorism.
We call upon the government to urgently intervene to ensure that the
rule of law is respected. State security agents must comply with the
law. In this new Zimbabwe that is now upon us, no one is above the law.
State security agents who continue to trample on citizens’ rights and
freedoms should themselves face the full wrath of the law.