HIGH Court Judge Justice Joseph Musakwa will on Friday 22 March 2013 preside over an appeal filed by lawyers representing Beatrice Mtetwa seeking to set aside the dismissal of her bail application by Harare Provincial Magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa.
The lawyers launched a fresh freedom bid for the top human rights lawyer on Thursday 21 March 2013 after filing an appeal in the High Court against the decision of Magistrate Marehwanazvo.
Magistrate Gofa on Wednesday 20 March 2013 dismissed Mtetwa’s bail application which had been filed pending her trial proceedings. The Magistrate based her dismissal of the bail application on the basis that if released on bail, Mtetwa would interfere with police investigations which were reportedly in their “infancy” as well as cause “commotion” as she had purportedly done when she was arrested on Sunday 17 March 2013. Magistrate Gofa ruled that the said commotion would hinder the police from carrying out their investigations.
But in their application, Mtetwa’s lawyers Advocate Thabani Mpofu, Harisson Nkomo and Dzimbabwe Chimbga argued that Magistrate Gofa seriously misdirected herself by refusing to admit the human rights lawyer to bail and that her ruling must be set aside on appeal.
The lawyers proposed that Mtetwa should be freed on bail on terms that binds her to deposit US$100 with the Clerk of Court at Harare Magistrates Court and not interfere with evidence and if need be enter into any such additional recognizances as the High Court may deem desirable.
Justice Musakwa will hear the bail application at 09:00 am on Friday 22 March 2013.
Mtetwa was arrested on Sunday 17 March 2013 and charged with contravening Section 184 (1) (g) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly defeating or obstructing the course of justice.
Read more in this Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights Information Alert: Mtetwa Launches Fresh Freedom Bid