Shocking judicial delays as 10 prisoners spend 9 years without trial

By Lance Guma
16 October 2006

Zimbabwe’s judge President Rita Makarau has criticised the judicial system in the country for allowing at least 10 inmates to stay in remand prison for up to nine years without trial or being sentenced. Justice Makarau made the remarks while on a tour of Harare Central Prison last Friday. The suspects affected are mainly those involved in robbery and murder cases. Although the judge expressed shock and outrage at the backlogs, pressure groups in the country have been making loud calls for the issue to be sorted out for sometime, but government just turns a deaf ear. Political activists have also been quick to point out that such delays are common in politically motivated cases.

Mugabe’s regime hounded out several judges from the bench and this has helped created the situation where suspects languish in remand prison after being convicted but never sentenced. Markos Simakana is facing a murder charge has been in custody for 9 years. He has neither been tried nor even taken for routine remand hearings. Some of the suspects locked up are people who have been refused bail even though their cases involved petty offences. State media reports quoted the prison officer in charge, Superintendent George Mutimbanyoka, telling the judge that, ‘Cells are lice-infested. Fumigation of blankets and cells is recommended. Our system is old and it needs attention as it may also lead to the outbreak of water-borne diseases.’

The country’s economic crisis has ensured that a shortage of fuel affects the transportation of inmates to court while officials also admit there is a shortage of prison clothes to adequately dress inmates. Several reports have also highlighted the prevalence of skin diseases in the cells, with unofficial reports suggesting a high number of inmates are dying in custody. Just last week prominent footballer Cheche Billiart, who was serving time for rape, died in prison and all indications are that conditions in his cell were to blame for his death. Although Justice Makarau might have made the right noises it remains to be seen if she has the power to change the situation.

The weekly Standard newspaper highlighted how it has taken almost 18 months for the appeals of three convicted Zimbabwean spies, said to have worked for South Africa, to turn up at the High Court. They appealed against their convictions after being sentenced in February last year. Tafadzwa Mugabe of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights told the Standard the development was a clear assault on justice and a direct violation of the freedom to a fair trial. ‘Imagine if that trial was held in three days and they were acquitted. What that would mean is that they would have served 18 months for nothing.’