Beatrice Mtetwa, a prominent human rights lawyer, has been
refused bail by a Zimbabwean court that claimed she was a flight risk. Four
aides to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who were arrested with Ms Mtetwa,
were also denied bail. The group were arrested last week, following the
referendum on a new constitution that strengthens civil liberties. Ms Mtetwa
was charged with obstructing justice after she intervened during Sunday’s
police raid on the offices of Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change
Party. Ms Mtetwa, appearing in the dock in leg irons, raised her fist in
defiance as the court ruled that she should remain in jail until after the
Easter break. The four aides have been charged with impersonating police
officers; they all deny the charges. The arrests were condemned by legal
groups, including the International Commission of Jurists and the Pan African
Lawyers Union: “without a clear and unambiguous departure from a past
characterised by harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and of
impunity for Zimbabwe’s police and security sector, the promise of the new
constitution will be laid to waste,” the groups said in a statement.
Original article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21864596
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