Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court stays activist prosecution

ZIMBABWE – In a rare Supreme Court ruling for Zimbabwe, the State treason case against Ms Jestina Mukoko, leader of the Zimbabwe Peace Project and prominent opposition activist, was permanently stayed on Monday (28/9). The Government had alleged that Mukoko, among others, had been involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the President Robert Mugabe’s regime. The Court – comprised of three justices – found that Ms Mukoko had been tortured by agents working for the Mugabe government, and accordingly, that her constitutional rights had been impermissibly infringed. The State conduct, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku announced in court, entitled the Applicant [Mukoko] to a permanent stay of criminal prosecution. The ruling has been heralded as a timely precedent on the issue of governmental abuse of power in Zimbabwe.

SEE FURTHER

1. CNN – 28 September 2009
2. New York Times – 28 September 2009
3. Constitution of Zimbabwe (PDF)