Kwekwe Magistrate Samukelisiwe Gumbo has discharged and acquitted two victims of police brutality who had been on trial for allegedly defeating or obstructing the course of justice.
The two Deon Jane Craig and Menard Moyo, who are residents of Gweru and Kwekwe, were assaulted by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers stationed at Mbizo Police Station in Kwekwe, when they were arrested on 8 January 2021 for allegedly harbouring a suspected thief and charged with defeating or obstructing the course of justice as defined in Section 184(1)(g) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
During trial which commenced in October 2021, prosecutor Kudakwashe Mazorodze claimed that the duo threw stones at some police officers who intended to arrest Maxwell Moyo thereby disturbed them from effecting an arrest on him.
Craig told Magistrate Gumbo that he was shot on her left leg and foot and was hospitalised at Kwekwe General Hospital, where she received specialist treatment while Menard stated that he was assaulted with open hands and fists all over his body and also had to be treated in hospital.
On Wednesday 12 January 2022, Magistrate Gumbo set the duo free at the close of the prosecution case after ruling that the testimonies of the three State witnesses showed that there was no evidence tendered during trial linking Craig and Moyo to the alleged commission of the offence.
Craig and Moyo were represented by Nosimilo Chanayiwa and Jabulani Mhlanga of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
