State prosecutor charged with contempt of court in Muchadehama trial

By Violet Gonda
22 October 2009

If there was ever any doubt, an incident in court on Thursday shows that the State completely disregards the rule of law in Zimbabwe. A public prosecutor, Andrew Kumire, was sentenced to five days in jail for contempt of court, by Harare Magistrate Chioniso Mutengi, but managed to evade the prison cells by filing a bail application through another Magistrate, Mishrod Guvamombe, and was granted bail immediately, without the State opposing.

Kumire is the prosecutor in the trial of human rights lawyer Alex Muchadehama, who is accused of having secured the “unlawful release” on bail of freelance journalist Andrison Manyere and MDC officials Chris Dhlamini and Gandhi Mudzingwa on 17th April, in ‘collusion’ with Constance Gambara, the Clerk of High Court Justice, Chinembiri Bhunu. The three individuals had spent several months in jail following their abduction by state security agents in December 2008. Muchadehama, who has successfully represented several other victims of state-sponsored abduction and torture, is standing trial for alleged contempt of court.

Kumbirai Mafunda, Communications Officer for the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), said there was drama in court when the prosecutor disrespected the magistrate, who had repeatedly told him not to ask leading questions of one of the State witnesses. Magistrate Mutengi had also asked him not to bring up issues which had not been raised during cross examinations, but the law officer continued to disobey orders and shockingly made a rude sound (kuridza tsamwa) at the magistrate.

Mafunda said: “Magistrate Mutengi actually said the court felt insulted by the sound that Mr Kumire made, which she said is contemptuous of the court.”

Despite being ordered not to leave the court, Kumire is said to have ‘bolted’ out of the courtroom when the magistrate had gone to look for prison guards to arrest him. The prosecutor is alleged to have fled to the Attorney General’s Office to consult with his colleagues. The ZLHR communications officer said prison guards went there and brought him back to the Rotten Row Magistrates’ court, where he was detained in the holding cells.

Later in the afternoon, Kumire bypassed Magistrate Mutengi who had committed him to prison, and personally applied for bail before Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe, who immediately granted him bail. The ZLHR Communications Officer said: “In many circumstances the State has objected to the granting of bail. The State did not even appeal the granting of this bail. So we feel this is the most brazen selective application of the law.”

Muchadehama’s trial was postponed to the 17th November.