Tsvangirai’s top aide denied bail

By Tichaona Sibanda
26 April 2007

MDC Presidential aide Ian Makone was on Thursday denied bail by a Harare magistrate. This is the fourth time he’s been denied his freedom since he was arrested on 28th March.

Makone, who appeared with other MDC activists facing different set of charges is himself being charged with allegedly recruiting and training insurgents, bandits, saboteurs or terrorists was remanded to the 11th of next month. All MDC members and activists deny the charges.

Jessie Majome, the party’s deputy secretary for legal affairs said they are not surprised their colleagues are being denied bail because the law in the country was now being used as an instrument of victimization and terror.

She said the whole state apparatus in the country was bearing down on the opposition like a well-oiled machine to persecute the regime’s opponents.

‘What is happening is absurd and unreal and points to naked desperation by the state to pulverize and suppress the opposition,’ she said.

Majome claimed all the arrests of opposition activists in the last six weeks have been political as there was nothing legal about the crackdown. She said the arrests were not normal as they lacked certain standards in the country’s criminal procedure.

‘The law in the country protects people, but in this case the law is being used to target innocent civilians for a political purpose. We have statutes that guarantee the protection of people even those under police arrest. What we have are opposition figures being beaten, tortured and killed instead,’ Majome said.