Mamombe, MDC-A Activists Granted $10 000 Bail Each
The High Court has granted bail to the three MDC Alliance Youth Assembly leaders who are facing charges of faking their own abduction after it upheld their appeal against the ruling by the Magistrates Court.
The three are Harare West Member of Parliament Johana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova. They are being accused of lying to the police about being abducted by state security agents.
The three were granted $10 000 bail each coupled with stringent conditions. They were ordered to report to the police three times a week, hand in their passports, not interfere with witnesses, reside at given addresses, and not to communicate with media including social media in connection with their case.
High Court Judge Justice David Foroma ruled that bail had been improperly denied by the Magistrates Court. He said:
In the circumstances, the exercise of the court a quo’s discretion denying the appellants bail pending trial was improperly impugned. The appeal accordingly succeeds.
Speaking after Justice Foroma had made the ruling, MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said the party was grateful that that justice had been served. She said:
As a political party, we are most grateful. Bail is a Constitutional right; we believe we have been vindicated. For women who were abducted, tortured for them to be jailed for a period of over two weeks in the manner that they were, was to turn justice on its head.
