Mr Shumba was then taken to St. Mary's Police Station without having been informed of the charges against him. He was denied access to legal representation and was abused and insulted. He was afterwards thrown into a small cell and then transported to an undisclosed location. Once there, he was repeatedly tortured with electrical shocks and assaulted.

Mr. Shumba testified that his interrogators questioned him about his political affiliations with the MDC and asked about his involvement in the burning of a government bus, among other things. Chemicals were also applied to his body, causing him to lose control of his bodily functions, and he was forced to drink his own vomit. Finally, Mr. Shumba had to sign, under threat, incriminating documents and had to swear allegiance to President Mugabe as well as agree to work for the CIO.

Mr. Shumba's detention lasted three days. During that period, he was not given food or water. Neither was he notified of the accusations against him, until he was formally charged under Section 5 of the Public Order and Security Act, which deals with organising, planning or conspiring to overthrow the government through unconstitutional means.

After a court hearing, Mr. Shumba was released on bail after having to surrender his passport. Once released, he fled the country to South Africa following threats by state security agents.

Gabriel Shumba spent some time as a legal intern at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, based in Arusha, Tanzania. On April 1, he received a telephone call from the Zimbabwean Ambassador in Arusha, Ms. Chipo Zandonga, in which she warned him that he could face "serious consequences" because of his involvement with the UN tribunal. According to Mr. Shumba, the diplomat allegedly accused him of using the tribunal to have President Mugabe charged with crimes against humanity.

Ms. Zandonga reportedly denied knowing Mr. Shumba or ever having had a conversation with him. However, according to Mr. Shumba, she warned him that she was going to use her links within the Tanzanian Government to have him deported back to Zimbabwe and that he was "dead meat".