from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
HARARE, (CAJ News) – THE Zimbabwe High Court has ordered the release of an opposition legislator detained for alleged public violence and breaching measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Judge Justice Esther Muremba freed Joanah Mamombe, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harare West constituency for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance.
She had been incarcerated for close to two weeks on the orders of a Harare magistrate, who had ordered that Mamombe have her mental state examined by two “neutral” doctors while being detained at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
Mamombe had been incarcerated for 13 days in Chikurubi on charges the opposition believed are trumped up by the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The release ordered by the High Court is anticipated to end the tribulations of Mamombe.
In June, she was arrested together with MDC-Alliance Youth Assembly leaders, Cecelia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova.
They were charged with “publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state.”
Police claimed they stage-managed their alleged abduction.
The trio was also charged with “defeating or obstructing the course of justice.”
They had gone missing for two days and found injured after allegedly being tortured by unknown men thought to be state agents.
The trio has already been charged with committing public violence after they were arrested on 26 May 2020 for allegedly participating in an anti-government protest against hunger during the national lockdown period.
Police claimed the protest violated lockdown measures.
– CAJ News