Badly scarred MDC activists await June 4 bail hearing

By Lance Guma
29 May 2007

It’s been over 62 days since 32 MDC officials were arrested and locked up in Harare’s remand prison without trial. They face what have been described as flimsy charges of alleged petrol bomb attacks. Those visiting them say the group remains resolute in fighting for democratic change and have expressed hope the wheels of justice will slowly move to set them free. On Monday the 4th June the High Court will decide on an urgent bail application put in by defence lawyers. Crisis in Zimbabwe programmes manager Pedzisai Ruhanya has been visiting several of the detainees and says most still have visible head scars from beatings administered by security forces.

He told Newsreel that physical signs of abuse and torture were clearly visible but that the prisoners have put on a brave face each time they receive visitors. Ruhanya who worked with one of the detainees Luke Tamborinyoka at the banned Daily News newspaper, said his colleague showed signs of trauma from the whole ordeal. He argued that the reason the activists were being kept in custody for such a long time was because the state knew the charges would not stick in a court of law and as such they were being made to serve an unlawful sentence via the prolonged detention.

Ruhanya said the detainees were also confident they would be acquitted if they ever got their day in court. He slammed the judiciary for accommodating deliberate delays by the state who argued the police need more time to investigate despite arresting their ‘suspects’ first.

In March police crushed a prayer rally organized by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign in Highfield. Over 600 MDC activists have been arrested tortured and hospitalized in a government crackdown that followed soon after. Several senior officials, including Glen View Member of Parliament Paul Madzore, Ian Makone, and Information Officer Luke Tamborinyoka have been locked up for over 2 months without trial.