Bussinesman Francesco Marconati, who serves as the Director for both Eagle Italian Shoes (Pvt) Limited and Eagle Italian Leather (Pvt) Ltd, denies accusations of violating a court order after clarifying that his delay in completing community service was attributable to his need to attend court proceedings and take medical leave.
Marconati was arrested on Monday for failure to comply with a court order, which compelled him to perform 105 hours of community service.
During an enquiry that was held at the Harare Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, Marconati through his lawyer, Advocate Mapuranga said he was only left with 16 hours to complete the 105 hours of community service.
“As of today the accused has performed 89 hours of community service and he is left with 16 hours to complete.
“It is our submission that the first leave was to come to Harare for court, second its for medical reasons. There was no default at all…..
“If the court finds that there is breach may the court extend the time in which the community service be finished.
“May he ( Marconati) finish off the community service at Borrowdale Police Station in Harare because there are issues at Inyathi Police Station in Bulawayo,” he said.
On Tuesday, during Marconati’s initial appearance at court in this matter, Advocate Mapuranga also criticized the State for allegedly mishandling the presentation of his clients’ case in court. This criticism stems from the assertion that the court documents are incomplete.
“Your Worship, my client is improperly before the court. There are no documents from the State to prove that indeed he disregarded the court order.
“We were only served with a letter of the Director of Community Service that was addressed to the State (Mr Chirenje) but there are no documents to prove such allegations….
“We would like the State to provide such evidence, we are ready to defend ourselves since we are not in agreement with them because my client did not default the community service…
“Before the court there is no Form 242 or a State outline or a Charge Sheet but there is only this letter and my client clearly has no knowledge why was brought before this court.”
The State represented by Anesu Chirenje alleges that Francesco Marconati defied a court order, hence the need to know why he acted in that manner.
Magistrate Simon Kandiero deferred the matter to today.
