The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC Alliance) has refused to celebrate the acquittal of party activists Tungamirai Madzokere and Last Maengahama from prison eight years after they were convicted of murdering a police officer saying their incarceration was illegal and unjustified.
Initially, Maengahama, Madzokere were convicted together with two other activists Yvonne Musarurwa and the late Rebecca Mafikeni after they were found guilty of murdering Inspector Petros Mutedza in Glen View on 29 May 2011.
Musarurwa was later pardoned following a presidential amnesty.
In an interview with 263Chat, MDC Alliance Spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said the dignity of the jailed activists who spend eight years at Chikurubi Maximum prison enduring hard labour cannot be compensated.
“The unlawful incarceration of the the crime that they did not commit. The release its not something that we can celebrate, the 8 years in prison, enduring to hard labor shows injustices .
“This is a loss dignity that can never be compensated, here we have wives who were without their husbands and children who were without their fathers just because the state decided to criminalize the fact of opposition politics,” said Mahere.
She castigated the state for shamelessly punishing opposition supporters for merely standing up to oppose government excesses.
“The two were not even at the crime scene but they were still convicted. Today the Supreme court said what we been saying all along in defence of the two saying the charge against them was baseless and without substance and without clear evidence. It is a sad day for the justice system,” said Mahere.
Through their lawyers, Charles Kwaramba and Tendai Biti, the two activists had their bid for bail pending appeal against conviction at the Supreme Court denied on the grounds that they failed to prove that they will not abscond.
