Police fail to take WOZA to court The arrested Women of Zimbabwe Arise and supporters did not appear in court as expected because Bulawayo police reportedly failed to come up with arresting affidavits. 40 people from the pressure group, including four members from Men of Zimbabwe Arise, who were released into the custody of their lawyer on Friday, reported at Bulawayo Central Monday. But group coordinator Jenni Williams said the police could not take the group to court to officially charge them because they could not provide arresting statements. They were released after the police said they will proceed by way of summons. She said; “A police officer called us and said it seemed he was not getting any affidavits from the arresting details and as a result he agreed to release us and to proceed by way of summons.” Williams believes the police knew the case would be thrown out of court saying; “Normally WOZA wins all its court cases…you cannot criminalise freedoms of expression and assembly, so they know it’s a futile cause. And the most important reason is because of the brutality that we experience at the hands of those riot police on Wednesday.” |
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The security forces unleashed an orgy of violence against the pressure group who were launching their People’s Charter outside the government’s offices in Bulawayo last week. Scores were beaten and arrested, including children. WOZA said several sustained serious injuries, including an 18 month old baby and an elderly woman from Insiza. Williams said most of the injured are doing well but expressed concern for the elderly woman. “Initial medical help sought was that they couldn’t treat her and they may have to amputate her leg,” she said. |
| The woman with the broken ankle continues to receive specialist treatment and her condition remains serious. The specialist admitted that, given the severity of the break and her age, many other doctors would have simply amputated. He is continuing to attempt to save her leg but the next two weeks remain critical. The woman, in her sixties, admitted that she was beaten by police whilst lying on the ground. Read more | |
The way police treated the demonstrators has led the group to believe this is the reason they have not been taken to court. “They know that once they prepare these statements and putting names forward and saying that they arrested us knowing that they brutalized us as they arrested us, we will then be suing them. But what they don’t know is we have other ways of getting their names and we will be proceeding to sue them anyway.”
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| SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news | |