MDC-T lawyers’ arrest falls out

INVESTIGATIONS into the conduct of two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) lawyers accused of making disparaging remarks about the judiciary seem to be headed nowhere as three months have since passed after Electoral Court Judge, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, ordered their arrest.In August, following the outcome of the July 31 elections, Justice Bhunu found Advocates Chris Mhike and Lewis Uriri — the lawyers who filed a petition on behalf of the MDC-T contesting the poll results — in contempt of court for denigrating the judiciary in their court documents.

He said their remarks suggested that the judiciary was partisan, compromised and could therefore not afford former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party a fair audience.
The MDC-T’s legal representatives had challenged the outcome of the poll results, which Tsvangirai dismissed as a “huge farce” and a  “monumental fraud” after his party was  trounced by President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, even in areas perceived to be its strongholds.

It was Tsvangirai’s third consecutive loss to President Mugabe after the 2002 and 2008 polls. His party also suffered heavy losses in its former strongholds, except for Harare and Bulawayo where it has remained hugely popular.
The MDC-T had asked its legal team to demand that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission release election material used in the July 31 elections to the Electoral Court.
While the application was later withdrawn, the courts still proceeded to hear the arguments.

Apart from dismissing the application, Justice Bhunu asked the “Attorney General or the prosecuting authority to take appropriate action according to the law” against the lawyers for filing court documents containing disparaging remarks about the judiciary.
Justice Bhunu said: “Time has come to rein in errant legal practitioners bent on bringing the court’s integrity into disrepute. That type of conduct cannot be tolerated by these       courts.”

To date, no arrests of the MDC-T’s lawyers have taken place amid indications that the matter could be dead and buried.
Legal experts said investigators might have found it difficult to order the arrest of the MDC-T lawyers for criticising the judiciary because no branch of the State should be beyond criticism.
They said the investigators were also cautious not to be seen as leading the attack on civil liberties which were expanded and safeguarded under the new Constitution.
This week, Johannes Tomana, the Attorney General, said as no court could arbitrarily make arrests without a charge.

“We are still waiting for feedback from police on the matter. The ball is not in my court, but with the police where any follow-up of the case must be done with them,” said Tomana in an interview with the Financial Gazette.

“We don’t just arrest people without a charge…a charge is filed, a docket is opened and then the case can be moved forward.”
Police officials this week that the case involving the MDC-T legal team was still under investigation although it was difficult to get an official response from police spokesperson, senior assistant commissioner Charity Charamba as her phone was not being picked up.