MDC-T Youth Assembly Chairman Solomon Madzore and 28 fellow activists are facing what his party believe are ‘trumped up’ charges of killing a policeman. The group has had countless applications for bail turned down and Monday marked the first time the case went to trial since the arrests in May last year.
The Secretary General of the MDC-T Youth Assembly Promise Mkwananzi told SW Radio Africa that the youths gathered at the court “to show solidarity with the accused and show frustration with the inefficiency of the justice delivery system in this country.
“Once our youths gathered, the police descended upon them,” he said.
Asked what prompted the scuffles, Mkwananzi said: “It was because the police are intolerant and do not conduct themselves in a professional manner. They just came from the police station armed and just descended on defenceless youths.” He said there were a ‘couple’ of injuries and some people were ‘ferried to hospital’.
The case has drawn comparisons to a recent one in Shamva, where seven policemen accused of murdering a mine worker were granted $50 bail after one month detention. The MDC-T has also accused the police of arresting victims of ZANU PF violence who report the incidents to the police.
Senior officials in the army and the police have publicly declared their loyalty to ZANU PF and Robert Mugabe and the Glen View case to many highlights what commentators have referred to as ‘persecution by prosecution’.
In addition to demobilising MDC-T structures the party also has to use money to fight the case. SW Radio Africa
Post published in: News