By A Correspondent| Harare Magistrate Stanford Mambanje has cancelled a warrant of arrest issued against opposition Vice President Tendai Biti at the instigation of State Prosecutor Michael Reza.

Biti is facing allegations of insulting a Russian national and Pokugara Properties Chief Operations Officer Tatiana Aleshina outside the Harare Magistrates Court.

Biti said he was at the Harare Magistrates Court at 0830 hours in the morning while hitting out the state owned Herald newspaper for conniving with the state and Aleshina by reporting on the warrant of arrest before it had even been issued.

“Despite the fact that I was at court by 830 , State Prosecutor Michael Reza applied for a warrant of arrest against me in my on going persecution engineered by land baron Ken Sharpe. This was a prepaid warrant as the @HeraldZimbabwe was reporting on the same before it’s issuance,” said Biti.

He further noted that Magistrate Mambanje was critical of the state for pushing what appeared like a personal vendetta against the decorated lawyer.

“In canceling the Warrant Magistrate Stenford Mambanje was critical of State position and State lies. It is quite clear the extent State Capture and the desperate attempt to silence critical alternative voices. We have never been cowards. We never yielded on matters of principle,” added Biti.

The former Finance minister during the inclusive government fingered controversial land developer Kenneth Raydon Sharpe for engineering his continued persecution which he said is meant to silence him.

Biti is the lead lawyer for Harare north legislator Norman Markham who is suing Sharpe and the government for illegally parceling out state land under the guise of payment for the construction of Airport road.