Staff Reporter |Outspoken female activist Linda Masarira has won a court victory.

Below is a statement by the Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights;

High Court Judge Justice Edith Mushore has paved the way for her to commence proceedings to challenge her conviction and sentence for allegedly participating in an anti-government protest in 2016 after granting her application for condonation to allow her to appeal against Mbare Magistrate Stanford Mambanje’s decision.

After Magistrate Mambanje convicted and sentenced Masarira in March 2017 to serve community service at Marlborough Clinic in Harare, the Clerk of Court at Mbare Magistrates Court refused to accept her appeal documents because she had not secured $150 to pay for security costs.

The time to appeal against Magistrate Mambanje’s ruling lapsed while Masarira had not yet secured money to pay for the security costs. This compelled Masarira’s lawyer Obey Shava of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to file an application for condonation and extension of time within which to note an appeal.

In the application, Shava challenged the conduct of the Clerk of Court at Mbare Magistrates Court and asked the High Court to declare such conduct unconstitutional.

Shava argued that the Constitution provides for the right of access to courts and the right of appeal if one is not happy with the decision of the inferior courts, hence those rights should not be taken away because someone is poor and unable to pay exorbitant security costs.