Three MDC-T officials convicted for 2011 cop murder
By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |
The High Court on Tuesday convicted three Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) officials for the murder of a police officer in 2011.
The three, Tungamirai Madzokere, Last Maengahama and Yvonne Musarurwa, were ruled to have murdered police Inspector Petros Mutedza with actual intent.
A fourth MDC-T member, Phineas Nhatarikwa, was found guilty of being an accessory for ferrying the other accused persons from the scene of the crime.
The four were remanded in custody for sentencing on 8 September 2016.
Others remaining on the list of suspects in the murder, Lazarus Maengahama, Edwin Muingiri and Paul Rukanda were acquitted.
The 7 were part of the 29 Glenview residents who were arrested in 2011 and charged with contravening Section 47 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act when they threw stones at police officers during unrest, resulting in Mutedza’s death.
In the last hearing in 2014, the defence, led by Beatrice Mtetwa, produced a video in court to show that Last Maengahama was in church during the commission of the crime, as an alibi, but the court rejected the evidence.
In 2013, 22 other accused Glen View residents were acquitted while another MDC-T activist, Rebecca Mafikeni, succumbed to ill health while detained at Chikurubi Prison in Harare. Nehanda Radio
