Incarcerated Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) legislators Job Sikhala (Zengeza West) and Godfrey Sithole (Chitungwiza North) will on Monday file a fresh bail application seeking their release from prison.
The two are facing charges of inciting violence following the death of CCC member Moreblessing Ali, who was brutally murdered in Nyatsime early June by a suspected Zanu PF activist Pius “Jamba” Mukandi, who has since been arrested.
According to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) the duo’s lawyers will argue their case under changed circumstances and oral arguments at the High Court.
“We have mounted yet another freedom bid for Zengeza West MP Hon. Job Sikhala and Chitungwiza North MP Hon. Godfrey Sithole by filing a fresh bail appeal seeking their release from prison citing changed circumstances and oral arguments will be done at the High Court on Monday 15 August
“The two legislators, who are represented by @bamujm and Alec Muchadehama of @ZLHRLawyers, have spent 57 days in both police and prison detention since they were arrested on 14 June and charged with inciting public violence while Hon. Sikhala faces an additional charge of obstructing or defeating the course of justice as defined in Section 184(1)(e) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act,” wrote ZLHR on twitter
Sikhala and Sithole were denied bail by the High Court on the premise that they were likely to commit public violence if released from police custody.
In her ruling, High Court judge Justice Lucy Mungwari said Sikhala violated his bail condition of not addressing the public.
Sikhala’s lawyers Jeremiah Bamu and Alec Muchadehama had argued that the duo was being persecuted by the State, and that there was no evidence against them.
