Makomborero Haruzivishe granted bail but remains in prison
Haruzivishe has been denied freedom
HARARE – MDC Alliance activist Makomborero Haruzivishe was granted bail pending appeal on his 14-month prison sentence on Wednesday – but the 28-year-old will remain in prison following the revocation of his bail on separate charges.
Haruzivishe was jailed in April on charges of incitement of violence and resisting arrest, but he appealed against both conviction and sentence.
On Wednesday, Justice Webster Chinamora of the Harare High Court ruled that his appeal has prospects of success as he granted him Z$10,000 bail.
But hopes of Haruzivishe’s quick release from prison were immediately dashed.
His lawyer Kossam Ncube said: “He’s not coming out today. There’s a separate matter in which his bail was revoked. My colleague Obey Shava is seized with that particular issue and you can get in touch with him.”
Shava was not answering his phone.
Haruzivishe’s bail was revoked following his dramatic arrest in Harare on February 17 this year accused of kidnapping employees of Impala Car Rental in August last year after chain-locking them inside a shop in central Harare. The incident came during protests after one of the company’s vehicles was used in the abduction and torture of student, Tawanda Muchehiwa, on July 30.
When Haruzivishe appeared in court, prosecutors said he had three other pending matters for which he had skipped bail, and had three outstanding arrest warrants:
♦ Allegations of staging an illegal demonstration in February last year whilst holding a placard written: “ED Must Go!”
♦ Incitement of violence and resisting arrest for which he has since been convicted and sentenced to an effective 14 months in prison.
♦ Holding an illegal protest in March last year in Harare’s Warren Park suburb.
Harare magistrate Dennis Mungosi then revoked Haruzivishe’s bail, and ordered him held in prison until the conclusion of his three separate trials.
Haruzivishe’s legal team from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights has been battling since to secure his release on bail – ZIMLIVE
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