Matinenga (53), who first appeared in court on Wednesday for initial remand, was in prison garb when the magistrate Hlekani Mwayera refused to put him on remand and said the State had virtually failed to prefer the exact charges against the accused.
“After 96 hours, it is questionable how the State can prefer wrong charges on the accused. There is virtually no evidence against the accused, which constitutes public violence. Public violence as defined entails a group of people acting in consert in destroying property and beating up people,” she said.
She suggested the state could have lost its case through overzealousness in trying to wrap everything together, such as calling witnesses at initial remand stage.
The State, represented by Tawanda Zvakare, assisted by Florence Ziyambi from the Attorney General’s office in Harare, had wanted Matinenga to be put on remand and his case to start at a later stage .
The defence lawyers Tinoziva Bere and Trust Manda objected to that.
Mwayera said the issue of bail also fell off.
The legal fraternity in the Eastern border city nearly came to a standstill as most lawyers filled the gallery beginning on Wednesday to follow proceedings of one of the most respected and prominent advocates in southern Africa.—CAJ News.
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