Madzore is being held at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in connection with the death of Glen View policeman Petros Mutedza. He is one of 28 MDC-T members who have been charged in connection with the death, which is said have happened during a bar fight back in May.
The youth leader was arrested in October and his original bail application was denied. His lawyers then launched a fresh application in the High Court last month but, eight attempts later, there is still no ruling.
The hearing was meant to get underway on Thursday after being postponed on Wednesday. But it failed to take place in the morning after the State prosecutor, Edmore Nyazamba, did not show up in court. This forced High Court Justice Maria Zimba Dube to move it to her chambers. She then ruled that the matter should be held in an open court as it was of public interest, and postponed the hearing to Monday.
The Youth Assembly’s Secretary General, Promise Mkwananzi, said on Thursday that the group was “totally dismayed and very disappointed at the slow pace of the justice system”. He said that the repeated delays were a deliberate attempt by the state to keep Madzore behind bars.
“They know that if he is brought to trial it won’t stand because of the fictitious nature of the charges,” Mkwananzi said. “This is persecution not prosecution and we vehemently condemn this.”
Meanwhile, a fresh bail application for seven other MDC-T members, who are also facing murder charges, resumed in the High Court this week. The seven are part of the original group of MDC-T members arrested in May over the policeman’s death. The others were all released on bail in July.
The seven are: Glen View Ward 32 Councillor Tungamirai Madzokere, Rebecca Mafikeni, Phenias Nhatarikwa, Lazarus Maengahama, Stanford Maengahama, Yvonne Musarurwa and Stanford Mangwiro.
Post published in: News