High Court postpones sentencing of MDC members convicted of murder

By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |

The High Court on Thursday postponed indefinitely the sentencing of three Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) members who were on Monday convicted for the murder of a police officer in 2011.

The three are Tungamirai Madzokere (41) Yvonne Musarurwa (29) and Last Maengahama
(40) and they remain in custody.

The fourth MDC-T member, Phineas Nhatarikwa (50), who was also convicted for offering the three transport after the murder, was granted bail by Justice Chinembire Bhunu.

The four are 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 for allegedly causing public disorder that resulted in the death of the police officer, Petros Mutedza.

Twenty of the accused persons were found not guilty and released at the close of the State’s case in 2013 while one of the MDC-T activists, Rebecca Mafikeni, succumbed to ill health while at Chikurubi Maximum Prison.

Beatrice Mtetwa, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) board chair who is leading the defence team submitted in mitigation that her clients had already endured long periods in jail.

She asked for her clients to be given community service, adding that there was no direct evidence connecting her clients to the murder of the police inspector.

The four were convicted on the doctrine of common purpose which Mtetwa said was archaic and discredited. Nehanda Radio