By Alex Bell
16 February 2010
An MDC official who was arrested over the weekend for ‘insulting the office of the president’ is still behind bars in Bindura, with the civil servants strike preventing him from seeing the inside of a court.
Godfrey Chimombe, the MDC provincial vice chairman for Mashonaland Central, was arrested over the weekend for allegedly ‘insulting the president’ at a political rally earlier this month. He faces a jail sentence of up to two years if convicted, but no court date has yet been set as a result of the civil servants strike, which has seen court officials across the country down tools.
Bindura police say Chimombe ‘insulted the office of the president’ when he chanted out the slogan, “Mugabe Mudenga muroverei pasi” - an MDC slogan suggesting the party can bring Mugabe ‘down’ from power. He was addressing an MDC rally at Mapfura stadium in Mt Darwin.
The Zimbabwe chapter of the pressure group Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR Zimbabwe) has condemned the arrest. The group’s Chief Executive Tichanzii Gandanga said in a statement that the arrest and ongoing detention of the MDC official is “controversial and unlawful.”
“It appears security agents are on a mission to create an impression that there is a cult of holy leaders among those serving in public office who are exempt from criticism and scrutiny,” said Gandanga, who added, “Under normal circumstance politicians should not be persecuted for utterances made at political rallies.”
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