Persecution of lawyers, human rights activists and political opponents is an international crime. No government, agents or functionaries have a right to persecute people, no matter how much they deslike them.
Persecution includes but is not limited to unjustified arrests and malicious prosecutions, torture, kidnapping, and any form of inhuman and degrading punishment or treatment.
The MDC Alliance strongly condemns the unwarranted continued persecution of Honourable Joanna Mamombe Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova. The three were rearrested yesterday on spurious charges of making a false abduction report.
As the People’s party, we are appalled by the depths to which the illegitimate regime has sunk in its desperate attempt to cling to power.
The young women have suffered enough and they have not been allowed to recuperate in the comfort of their homes with their loved ones after the turmoil they have gone through and the time they have spent in hospital.
No sooner had they been hauled to court and ordered to surrender their passports and instead of being allowed to rest they are now again being charged with this ridiculous offence.
This callous treatment and cruelty has no place in a civilised society and it makes Robert Mugabe and Ian Smith look like saints.
What is more disturbing is that baseless allegations are being made against the People’s party, lawyers, journalists, civil society leaders and ordinary citizens who are perceived to be threats to the unjust regime.
After the senseless arrest of Advocate Thabani Mpofu, his instructing legal practitioner and Joshua Chirambwe we again witnessed the arrest of Advocate Sylvester Hashiti for criminal insult. We also learn with shock the arrest of Mr Rubaya who is also a lawyer and was involved in the team representing Advocate Thabani Mpofu on yet again unclear allegations.
It’s now evident that this is no new dispensation but a gigantic and monumental deception. We call upon them to stop arresting innocent citizens but instead arrest the rampant corruption and avarice which has resulted in the collapse of the economy.
Zimbabweans can barely make ends meet and the centre cannot hold as we see the moribund Zimbabwean dollar collapsing around us.
It is time for the regime to acknowledge its failures and cease this senseless harassment of the people of Zimbabwe.
The panacea to the problem is a return to legitimacy and not the use of brute force to continue the subjugation of the people. Our misery can only come to an end when we have a people s government which respects people s Rights.
WE CAN’T BREATHE
For and on behalf of the MDC Alliance legal department
Innocent Gonese
MDC Alliance Secretary for Justice and Legal Affairs
