Mtetwa made her first court appearance after police ignored a High Court order early Monday ordering her release.
Defence lawyer Dzimbabwe Chimbga said: “Initially we had put before the magistrate the issue of the unlawful detention and the order which we got from the High Court, which said she should be released immediately, but the magistrate said we must proceed to apply for bail because that issue of the High Court relates to the police, not her.
“So we applied for bail and surprisingly the state said it was not ready to respond and they applied for that matter to be rolled over to tomorrow.”
Scores of people, mainly from civil society and the legal fraternity, went to the magistrates’ court to express their solidarity with Mtetwa, a fearless human rights advocate.
The crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said there was no sitting or standing room in the courtroom due to the large numbers of people who attended.
Over the years Beatrice has represented many human rights and political activists and on Sunday she was arrested and charged with obstructing the course of justice for attending to her client, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s chief legal adviser, Thabani Mpofu.
Police had raided Mpofu’s home around 6am on Sunday, allegedly searching for ‘subversive material’. The MDC official and three others are being accused of ‘impersonating’ police officers.
The police accuse Mtetwa of insulting and shouting at officers during the arrest of her clients, but Chimbga said the police insist that the obstruction of justice emanated from the fact that she “vigorously tried to assert the rights of her clients by demanding that a search warrant be shown to them.”
He added: “Obviously from our view that is a constitutional right of a lawyer, and in our view the charges are frivolous and vexatious and nothing has changed today because the police have not put before the courts any more evidence to sustain their charge.”
There are suggestions that the police are after Mpofu and his three co-accused because they were compiling a dossier that would reveal massive corruption by some senior government officials.
The lawyer said the case of Mpofu and others has also been rolled over to Wednesday. Chimbga said: “Again the State stated it was not ready to respond.” – SW Radio Africa
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Our prayers are with you, Beatrice.Don’t give up. Don’t give in!
they had done it before,but to my surprise the police never won any case they took to the courts against the MDC.
god is with you sis beatrice
If ever there was a government that was running scared. But where was Tsvangerai in all this? How many times has Beatrice stood by him and now he turns his back and does nothing .Shame on you, you pathetic excuse for a PM!
Informed Article
The arrest, detention at Rhodesville and the subsequent appearances of Beatrice Mthetwa need further examination. It is certainly sad to note that there has been this development when she (Beatrice Mthetwa) was executing her duties as a registered and practising legal practitioner in the Republic of Zimbabwe. The right to legal representation by a legal practitioner of his/her choice is a guaranteed freedom enshrined in the Lanchester House constitution and many regional and international human rights instruments. Beatrice Mthetwa is also a well-known human rights defender who apparently sits on quite a number of Civic Society Organisations and doubling as well as their legal counsel of choice.
Why would the police arrest such a decorated lawyer who was performing her duties as such as a legal practitioner? Something must have gone extremely bad between her and the police. Beatrice has represented not only members of the civic society only or members of the MDC-T or M but has also represented senior government and Zanu Pf/MDCs officials, their wives in divorce matters etc. In brief and without doubt she is a much respected lawyer in the domestic jurisdiction, regionally and internationally.
I am of the view that her presence at the time the police were searching the premises of her client in the Borrowdale suburb might have triggered animosity between her and the police details conducting the search. “Not you again…..†This might have been the reaction of the police details at the time and did prepare their tempers for confrontation with her. Determined to represent her client and to see to it that her client’s rights were not being infringed by those conducting the search, she naturally asked the place for a search and seizure warrant and of course the reason for such search? Hell broke loose! The police perhaps did not have one and chose not to pay attention to her questions with regards to the existence or non-existence of a warrant for the following reasons among others: A search can be conducted with or without warrant in terms of the Criminal Code/Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, Perhaps that ordinarily lawyers are not per se required to attend at a scene/premises where a search is being conducted and it is Beatrice Mthetwa again!
Had there been a professional and respectful relationship between these warring parties, the police details could have taken Beatrice aside and explained what was going on and to disclose the existence or non-existence of a search and seizure warrant. If she had shouted at the police in the hit of the moment which I think she might have done out of frustration due to the silence by the police details to her enquiries with regards to the search and seizure warrant and or attempting to take photographs or video evidence of what was going on in pursuit of her frustrations; an attempt must have been made by her and the senior police man leading the search and seizure operation to come to a common ground than effecting an arrest. This of course is never possible when both parties fail to professionally respect one another. The arrest of Beatrice is rather unfortunate. Quite frankly the conduct exhibited by Beatrice if it’s true was not called for neither was her arrest nor the subsequent denial of bail. Surely these events point at various fussy achievements e.g. intimidation, a show down of police and state power, the lack of respect and professional composure. As a legal practitioner one must be alive to the following statement: “The crisis is there, you must not be the crisis.â€
Efforts must be made by the legal profession and the police and state security profession to level the humpy impasses that exist especially when it comes to preferred legal practitioners for political activists and the civic society organisations. All these parties are Zimbabweans after all. The evident and current impasses, cat and mouse chasing games, raids, searches and seizures etc. must end. The aforesaid micky mouse conducts from both parties exhibit a scenario where certain state functionaries are suspicious of legal practitioners’ activities and the activities of the civic society organisations. The civic society organisations and their lawyers seem to be suspicious as well against the police and state security professionals, in particular the ZRP Law and Order Department and the State security agents. All being professionals, is there a way that engagements be conducted to create a better, progressive and cooperative working relationships. I hope the High Court will see at Beatrice’s bail application in a different light and grant her bail. Her clients and family miss her and justice is waits in vain if bail is denied.
The General in Toto @ Harare