Warrant of arrest issued for arresting officers in ZCTU case

By Tererai Karimakwenda
08 May, 2008

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) reports that 11 of their activists from Chegutu who were arrested last year during the September 13 mass protests were found not guilty of behaviour likely to cause an uprising and disturbing peace. A Chegutu magistrate made the ruling on Tuesday after the State witnesses failed to show up to testify.

Khumbulani Ndlovu, the ZCTU Information Officer, said the witnesses were the four police officers who made the arrests. The magistrate was angered by the behaviour of the police because they had failed to appear in court on several occasions since last year. He immediately issued warrants for their arrest saying this should serve as a warning to other police officers not to simply arrest and brutalize innocent citizens without cause.

It is highly unlikely that the police officers will be detained since these arrests are all part of a state sponsored campaign against the opposition and civic organisations. The police have been making arrests around the country and assaulting or torturing detainees before releasing them. There is a consensus that the government is attempting to intimidate opposition officials and supporters ahead of the elections due next year.

In related news, the news Editor of The Worker newspaper, Bright Chibvuri, is due to appear before a Plumtree Magistrate on Wednesday. He is charged with practicing journalism without accreditation. But the ZCTU said Chibvuri was arrested while attending a district orientation workshop in his capacity as a ZCTU staff member, not a journalist.