The case of the two explosion suspects, Douglas Musekiwa and John Zulu failed to take off yesterday in Bulawayo. They were supposed to...
The case of the two explosion suspects, Douglas Musekiwa
and John Zulu failed to take off yesterday in Bulawayo.
They were supposed to appear before a Bulawayo magistrate
facing “insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism” charges. But the two were whisked away by police
officers following disagreements over how to proceed with the case involving
court officials.
The Standard reports that public prosecutor Charles Danda
professed ignorance about the alleged suspects’ whereabouts when magistrate
Adelide Mbeure called out their names to appear before her at the Tredgold
courts.
Sources said police tried to get warrants to further detain
Musekiwa and Zulu without them appearing in court, but they were reminded that
suspects must be produced in court within 48 hours after their arrest.
Sources said the police had tried several times to convince
court officials to grant the application for further remand without Musekiwa
and Zulu appearing in court, but without success.
“In terms of the law, that sort of application cannot be
granted without the suspects appearing in court,” a court official said.
After failing to prevail on the court officials, the
detectives whisked the suspects away. Zulu and Musekiwa were walking with great
difficulty.
Sources said the detectives later tried to apply for
further detention at the Western Commonage Magistrates Court in Mpopoma
high-density suburb, but failed. The claim could not be independently verified.
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