The ARTUZ leaders and members had been hauled before the courts after they were arrested
on Tuesday 18 December 2018 and charged with disorderly conduct in contravention of
Section 41(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly blocking a road in
Ruwa while holding and waving placards during an anti-government protest against poor
remuneration dubbed “Salary Caravan”.
But Harare Magistrate Victoria Mashamba on Wednesday 19 December 2018 set free the
ARTUZ leaders and members after ruling that the unionists had not committed an offence in
staging an anti-government protest against the country’s worsening economic crisis as they
were simply exercising their constitutional rights as enshrined in the Constitution.
The unionists’ lawyers Tinotenda Shoko and Kossam Ncube of Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights had challenged the placement on remand of their clients arguing that they had
not committed any offence by waving placards and singing songs when they were arrested
while protesting because they are a registered trade union which is exempted from notifying
the regulatory authority (ZRP) as provided under the punitive provisions of the Public Order
and Security Act.