After his arrest, Mangwiro was beaten by the police and lost his two front teeth in the ordeal. He narrated his gruesome experience to The Zimbabwean.
“I was arrested on May 30, 2011 at my work place in the Willowvale area. I was taken to Glen Norah Police Station. When we arrived, they (police) started questioning me about my involvement with the MDC-T,” said Mangwiro. “I told them a was an active member of the party in Budiriro and that was when some of the police officers at the station started making calls saying they had netted another MDC-T activist in connection with the murder of a police officer,” said Mangwiro.
He said he only found out what he was being charged with by listening to the phone calls.
“That same day, I was taken to Harare Central police station’s Law and Order section where I was heavily beaten by two police details, one of them male and the other female. They assaulted me with baton sticks on the soles of my feet,” said Mangwiro.
“The next day, I was taken to Rhodesville Police Station where I was brutally assaulted. The officers demanded that I name my accomplices in the case but I maintained my innocence,” said Mangwiro.
That same day, he was taken back to Harare Central Police station where the attack that led him to lose his front teeth occurred.
“At Harare Central, I was handed over to some plain clothed policemen who started asking me questions about the day the police officer died. One of them hit me with a police helmet on the mouth,” said Mangwiro.
After this ordeal, Mangwiro was taken to Harare Remand prison. “I had to have my teeth removed at remand prison because they were shaking and I was in so much in pain,” said Mangwiro.
He said his torture experience in police custody was the worst since he became actively involved in politics during the early stages of the formation of the MDC-T.
Mangwiro was part of a group of 21 MDC-T activists who were granted bail by the High Court in December last year. Addressing the activists soon after their release at Harvest House, MDC-T President, Morgan Tsvangirai bemoaned that Zanu (PF) was abusing the justice system to persecute his party supporters.
He dismissed the charges against the activists as “clearly trumped up”.
Post published in: News