By A Correspondent| The Harare Magistrates Court is caught in a dilemma where it expected to adjudicate on a case where a senior state prosecutor who once labelled a resident Magistrate ‘very stupid’ and got away with it, now wants opposition politician and lawyer Tendai Biti convicted for calling a Russian woman ‘stupid’.
State Prosecutor Michael Reza dominated headlines in 2019 after he mistakenly send a text message to the popular Advocate Thabani Mpofu of the ‘Fulcrum and Pith’ fame instead of Special Anti-Corruption Unit (SACU) head Tabani Mpofu while calling a female magistrate ‘very stupid’ for ruling in favour of an application by top lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa to have Biti’s trial for treason livestreamed.
Now the same Reza wants Biti convicted for calling Pokugara Properties Chief Operations Officer Tatiana Aleshina ‘stupid’ following an altercation at the Harare Magistrates Court.
Biti is representing Harare businessman George Katsimberis in a case where he is being charged of fraud, a counter case filed to neutralise a serious matter where the Harare businessman reported Pokugara Properties Managing Director Michael John Van Blerk and City of Harare officials for malicious damage to property.
Just yesterday, Reza was at it again calling Biti’s lawyer Alec Muchadehama an idiot after he had called him to order for trying to force the arrest of the powerful MDC Alliance vice President who could not attend his trial after coming into contact with a Covid-19 positive person at his workplace.
Biti’s lawyer Muchadehama told Harare Magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti that his client was isolating in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, which did not go down well with Reza who refused a postponement of the trial.
Muchadehama then said Reza was being malicious in failing to understand a simple issue adding that he was pushing a personal vendetta against the Harare East legislator.
Reza then lost his temper and hit back saying Muchadehama’s insistence that he is malicious was forcing him to also call him an idiot.
“Your worship, if my learned colleague continues to call me malicious, I will also call him an idiot,” snapped Reza.
Muchadehama has previously tried to have Reza removed from prosecuting Biti.
Infact it raises questions of personal interests why a senior prosecutor would want to handle a case where Biti is being accused of calling the Russian woman ‘stupid’ a matter that would ordinarily be reserved for a junior prosecutor.