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(NEWZIMBABWE) EU demonstrating lawlessness: Moyo

EU demonstrating lawlessness: Moyo
by Staff Reporter
12/07/2010 00:00:00

ZANU PF legislator Professor Jonathan Moyo says the harassment of Justice Minister Partrick Chinamasa in Germany as he tried to catch a connecting flight to Belgium was indicative of the “high levels of lawlessness prevailing in the European Union”.

Chinamasa claims he was held up for two hours at Munich International Airport as he tried to catch a connecting flight to Brussels for the latest round of EU-Zimbabwe –re-engagement talks.

The Zanu PF official says he was similarly treated at Frankfurt on his return while colleagues from the two MDC formations, Elton Mangoma and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga did not encounter any problems.

Chinamasa was also held up for seven hours at Frankfurt when the talks started.

He said the actions of the German immigration officials defied reason since he was in possession of a valid visa adding his treatment showed the EU was negotiating in bad faith.

"They gave me a visa as an exception to attend the dialogue and I expected all the EU countries to respect it.

"There is an element of bad faith on their part. It’s either that their systems are inefficient or they are just not interested in dialogue,” he told the state-run Herald newspaper.

However Moyo weighed in more robustly saying the EU was showing high levels of lawlessness.

"For them not to accept him and continue to harass him shows the highest level of lawlessness on their part. The rules they make and what they say about the rule of law is not said in principle.

“They do not believe in it at all. It’s just propaganda. Minister Chinamasa’s experiences tell the whole story in bold letters," Moyo said.

The Tsholotsho North Legislator said the EU was trying to “emotionally break” Chinamasa in order to weaken Zanu PF’s position in the talks.

"They know Minister Chinamasa is the key man on the Zanu-PF side and if they break him down emotionally through this harassment, they will have dented Zanu-PF.

Such actions should not be expected from supposedly civilised people," Moyo said.

Zimbabwe has been engaged in intermittent dialogue with the EU since 2009 although Harare continues to question Brussels sincerity in the talks.

The country is hoping the dialogue can lead to the lifting of sanctions and improvement in relations although the EU says it wants to see more substantive political reforms first.

Labels: JONATHAN MOYO, PATRICK CHINAMASA, SANCTIONS

posted by MrK @ 4:30 AM