Police have refused to return property belonging to diamond researcher Farai Maguwu Maguwu should have received his property, including a laptop and his passport, after being granted bail, according to a High Court order handed down on 14 July this year. But police have refused to hand over his property, and efforts by his legal team to force the police to abide by the Court order have been unsuccessful.
Maguwu is living under strict bail conditions after finally being granted bail, more than a month after his arrest in connection with his work exposing the human rights abuses at the Chiadzwa diamond fields. He is being charged with communicating so-called falsehoods deemed prejudicial to the State and if found guilty, faces up to 20 years behind bars. No date for his trial has been set.
Meanwhile, the High Court has relaxed the bail conditions set for three MDC victims of abduction. Gandhi Mudzingwa, Kisimusi Dhlamini, and Andrison Manyere were abducted by State security agents in 2008 and later charged with committing acts of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism. They filed an application last Tuesday seeking to amend their bail conditions which include weekly reports to the police.
The group wanted the court to cancel the reporting obligation, arguing that the condition was no longer necessary and an inconvenience. Their application was successful but their case is still pending.
Post published in: Politics