HIGH Court Judge Justice Philda Muzofa will on Wednesday 31 October 2018 preside over the trial of some Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers, who are being sued by human rights lawyer Mordecai Mahlangu for the harassment he suffered when he was arrested in 2009 while conducting his professional duties.
Mahlangu, the Board Chairperson for Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), was placed under arrest and spent one night at Harare Central Police Station cells in 2009 on a trumped up charge of attempting to defeat the due course of justice. In summons filed at the High Court, the human rights lawyer argued that his arrest in 2009 was not warranted as he was acting purely as a legal practitioner giving advice in accordance with his professional requirements. The charge arose from his representation of Michael Peter Hitschmann, who was a witness in the late Roy Bennett’s trial at the High Court.
Mahlangu has cited ZRP officers Henry Sostane Dowa and Clever Ntini, who were the arresting officers at the time of his persecution, Augustine Chihuri, who was the Commissioner-General at the time of his arrest, Johannes Tomana, the former Attorney-General and former co-Ministers of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Makone as defendants. He is suing the defendants in their personal capacity.
