MDC Director-General freed on bail

By Violet Gonda
26 June 2009

Toendepi Shonhe, the MDC’s Director-General was finally released on bail by High Court Justice Felistas Chatukuta on Friday. The MDC DG who was arrested last Tuesday on allegations of perjury, had been granted bail last Thursday, but remained in remand prison after the Attorney General’s office invoked a Section of the Criminal and Procedure Evidence Act to block his bail.
But after the seven day window period which the State had to appeal against the bail ruling, Justice Chatukuta on Friday dismissed the appeal. “I have considered all the submissions and I am more inclined to agree with Mr. Alec Muchadehama that there was no misdirection by the magistrates’ court in granting the accused bail.”

“Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed,” said Justice Chatukuta.

Muchadehama is the lawyer representing the MDC DG and the defence lawyer is also making a separate application challenging his client’s incarceration in the Supreme Court. Muchadehama is challenging the constitutionality of Section 121 subsection (3) of the Act, which he says is repeatedly abused by the Attorney General’s office to block bail granted to accused persons. The case is expected to be heard within two months.

Shonhe is accused of lying under oath when he swore in an affidavit that three MDC members had been re-abducted by State security agents. He denies lying before the courts.

Shonhe who was released late Friday after spending about 11 days in custody, is expected to appear in court for his remand hearing on July 7th. His lawyer told SW Radio Africa that he gave notice to the State that it will be at this remand hearing that the defence team will apply for Shonhe to be removed from remand as the prosecution’s arguments are based on speculation. Muchadehama said: “The facts that the State presented to the courts did not disclose the fact that an offence had been committed.”