Farai Maguwu

Further to the Urgent Appeal issued on 21 June 2010 and the subsequent update on 22 June 2010, Front Line has received the following information concerning the case of human rights defender Mr Farai Maguwu: Farai Maguwu was denied bail for a third time on 2 July 2010 by Magistrate Donal Ndirowei.

Further Information

The grounds of the denial were that the State needed more time to conclude its investigation. A previous application for bail was rejected on 10 June 2010 on the basis that the police would have concluded their investigations by 22 June 2010. As outlined in a previous update, bail was rejected again on 21 June 2010.

It is believed that police are deliberately refusing to conclude their investigations in order to prevent the court from granting bail to Farai Maguwu. On 30 June the State sought a further two weeks to conclude its investigations. Farai Maguwu remains in prison hospital where he has developed stomach and abdominal pains which have resulted in diahorrea. On 30 June 2010 Farai Maguwu testified in court that he had been put in leg irons and chains which prevented him from sleeping properly or from freely using the toilet. He told the court that when he sought an explanation for this treatment from prison guards, he was told that they were following orders from above which they had been ordered to obey because his case was allegedly 'political'. Farai Maguwu has instructed his lawyers to appeal this latest rejection of bail on the grounds that no proof of any pending relevant investigations was tendered in court, that his own testimony went unchallenged, that the testimony given by Detective Inspector Dowa was contradictory in nature and that the ruling by the Court was far removed from the evidence led in Court.

Farai Maguwu was originally arrested on 3 June 2010 in Mutare, Zimbabwe, and has been charged with publishing falsehoods against the State with the intention to cause prejudice to the security or economic interests of the country: a charge which, should he be found guilty, could lead to up to 20-years imprisonment. The Judge stated that the crimes of which Farai Maguwu is charged represent "treacherous and abominable" behaviour. No mention whatsoever was made, however, of the admitted denial of medical attention and medication and the admitted illegal detention of Farai Maguwu.

Farai Maguwu's arrest came following a meeting, on 25 May 2010, with Kimberley Process monitor Mr Abbey Chikane in which he discussed evidence of alleged military abuses in the diamond-rich Marange region in Mutare West. Mr Chikane in turn informed the Zimbabwean authorities about the evidence, reportedly for fear of being arrested himself. Since his arrest, Farai Maguwu's detention has been characterised by accusations of ill-treatment including threats, and worrying procedural irregularities including his removal from remand for interrogation over the weekend of 12-13 June.

See the original Urgent Appeal of 18 June 2010 on behalf of Farai Maguwu