Zimbabwe lawyers beaten and detained during protest march

By Violet Gonda
8 May 2007

Several lawyers were beaten, while five were briefly detained and assaulted on Tuesday, when police violently broke up a protest march by the legal fraternity. The lawyers, most of them in their gowns, were holding a peaceful demonstration in Harare to protest at the unlawful arrest of their colleagues Alex Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni. The Legal Resources Foundation said the protest was also against the abuse of the legal profession and the defiance of court orders by the police generally.

It’s reported that at least 50 lawyers had gathered outside the High Court in Harare when three truckloads of riot police came and violently dispersed people. The police said the Law Society had not given notice at least 4 days in advance and that all gatherings are banned in Harare, even for professional bodies.

Eileen Sawyer, the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO forum, said five lawyers namely Beatrice Mtetwa (the President of the Law Society of Zimbabwe), Chris Seddon, Chris Mhike, Terrence Fitzpatrick and Colin Kuhuni were briefly detained and taken to a place near the suburb of Eastlea where they were made to lie on the ground and were thoroughly beaten before being released.

Mtetwa said: “We were arrested, taken to an open court at a vlei near Eastlea taken off the truck and told to lie down and the batons started raining on us.” The NGO Forum said the group sustained “nasty injuries.”

Ironically, the police assaulted the lawyers during a march meant to highlight the ongoing harassment of legal practitioners. Those that were beaten during the march, were assaulted because they were ‘walking too slowly.” Sawyer said one of the lawyers, Mordecai Mahlangu, sustained serious injuries.

Last Friday human rights lawyers Muchadehama and Makoni were arrested on allegations of obstructing the due course of justice arising from a bail application filed by them in the High Court. The two have been the main representatives of political activists facing highly politicised criminal charges over the years. They are currently representing nearly 30 political detainees accused of petrol bomb attacks. Most of the opposition officials and supporters have been in custody for over a month.

Analysts say there is a worrying systematic campaign to remove critics so as to alter the framework of society by elections next year. No one is being spared as the regime seems to be also turning against its own people in the system. It’s reported that a representative of the Attorney General Richard Chikosha, a state prosecutor, was assaulted by Assistant Commissioner Mabunda and detained over night on Saturday for consenting to a court order.

The chairperson of the Legal Resources Foundation Nokuthula Moyo said: “I have not heard of any official protest by the Attorney General on the assault of his officer, Richard Chikosha; on the usurpation of his Constitutional duties by the police; on the disrespect and defiance of court orders. The police should act on the instructions of the Attorney General, not the other way round. I had hoped that the Attorney General would make a very public protest, if only for the protection of his officers.”

The lawyer added: “Ours is a country by name. It no longer deserves to be called a state, let alone a sovereign one. We traded our sovereignty the day we allowed violence to determine and run our lives. We are a flock without a shepherd. We have no hope of protection in this country, and certainly not the protection of the law.”