Naked Strip ZRP Attack: Pride Mukono Freed
29 January 2016
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The Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (RTUZ) Programmes Officer, Mr Pride Mkono, who was stripped naked in an attack by ZRP cops was today discharged at Mbare Magistrate Court where he was facing charges of assault.
Mkono had pleaded not guilty at the opening of the state’s case arguing that he was instead a victim of police criminal conduct in which case he had been assaulted, stripped naked, dipped in muddy water and had his cell phone stolen before being framed on the charge of assault.
At the close of the state’s case, a prima facie case could not be established to warrant him to go to his defense as there were glaring loopholes in the evidence before the court.
Allegations before the court were that Mkono had assaulted one Perkins Govero who was in company of police officers at Kuwadzana 2 shopping centre on the 28th of December 2015.
Perkins alleged that Mkono had punched him with clenched fists on his chest but he had not sustained any injuries. This assault is alleged to have been committed in the presence of police officers.
However, none of the police officers had been called as witnesses and neither was there any other independent witness besides the complainant. The complainant, under cross examination from award winning Human rights lawyer Gift Mtisi, failed to give any valid reasons as to how the police who were present had failed to give eye witness statements to corroborate what he was saying.
At the close of the state’s case, Mr Mtisi, filed an application for discharge which was duly granted by the Magistrate who reasoned that “the accused cannot be put to his defense simply to prop up a weak state case”.
Meanwhile, the trial of RTUZ President, Obert Masaraure and another, continued today at Mbare Magistrate courts with two police officers giving evidence, under cross examination from Mr Mtisi, the two police officers denied witnessing the assault but instead said they had been told by the complainant of it.
The matter was postponed to the 9th of February 2016 at Mbare Magistrate Courts and the state will call its last witness, a doctor from Harare Central Hospital to give testimony. The doctor was subpoenaed after the defense counsel of the accused had objected to the production of a medical report that “was clearly forged”.
These charges are emanating from an incident which occurred on the 28th of December 2015 at Kuwadzana 2 shopping centre where a group of police officers who the Union suspect to have been working on the orders of the intelligence, descended on the RTUZ team and assaulted them as they were coming from a planning meeting of the 4 January 2016 bonus demonstration.