The assembly accused the AG’s office of invoking Section 121 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act to persecute Zanu (PF)’s political opponents, after a prosecutor opposed their leader, Solomon Madzore, bail on Monday in a trial in which he is being accused of insulting President Robert Mugabe.
Under this section, a prosecutor can easily oppose bail granted by a magistrate and, according to the MDC-T youth assembly, it “has been heavily abused by prosecutors only in cases that are politically motivated.”
Section 121(3) says: “A decision by a judge or magistrate to admit a person to bail shall be suspended if, immediately after the decision, the judge or magistrate is notified that the Attorney-General or his representative wishes to appeal against the decision, and the decision shall thereupon be suspended and the person shall remain in custody”.
“The prosecutors at times come to the courts unprepared for the delivery of justice but to seek means of punishing those who are perceived as enemies of Zanu (PF);” said the wing in a statement.
“The Attorney General’s office has found a lovely toy in Section 121 of the…Act. Zanu (PF)- oriented prosecutors have been abusing this draconian act to keep behind bars those perceived as (their) enemies,”
read the statement.
A Bindura prosecutor Munyaradzi Mataranyika on Monday invoked the to block a $100 bail that was granted Madzore by Magistrate Elisha Singano.
“This unjust piece of legislation has seen unprofessional prosecutors playing ball to Zanu (PF)’s demands. The section has been abused to keep mostly MDC members and civic society activists in jail when they have been granted bail,” said the assembly.
It said the section “therefore renders the judges and magistrates’
rulings academic as the accused effectively remain behind bars”.
“The State is now persecuting through prosecution. Even when an individual is clearly not guilty and with a clear alibi as in the case of leader Solomon Madzore, the State can invoke the section to deny one’s freedom,” read the statement.
Post published in: News