Activist Mukoko arrested, charged
08/03/2013 00:00:00
by AFP
POLICE charged rights activist and former ZBC news reader Jestina Mukoko with a litany of alleged offences on Friday, hours after she handed herself in to the authorities, her lawyer said. "Police have charged her for allegedly operating an unregistered organisation," Harrison Nkomo, her lawyer told AFP.
Other charges included the smuggling of radio sets and mobile phones and broadcasting without a licence, Nkomo added. "They have released her into our custody and said they will call us when they are ready to go to court." The allegations come ahead of a March 16 referendum on a new constitution and crunch elections that will decide who will lead the country. Mukoko handed herself to police on Friday morning accompanied by her lawyers and spent three hours with the police as the charges were read.
Nkomo described the meeting as "cordial".
Police charges against Mukoko come weeks after a raid at the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) where she is the director.
In 2008, Mukoko was seized from her home and detained at an undisclosed location before being taken to the notorious Chikurubi prison, a maximum-security centre outside Harare.
Her lawyers claimed state agents severely tortured her and forced her to confess to banditry and treason.
Serious threat
She was charged in 2009 with plotting to overthrow long-ruling President Robert Mugabe, but the charges were later dismissed.
The prosecution accused her of recruiting people for terror training in neighbouring Botswana, a claim rejected by Botswana and Prime Minister Mogan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
State media on Friday quoted police commissioner general, Augustine Chihuri appealing to people knowing Mukoko's whereabouts to report to any police station.
Alleged government harassment has spiked ahead of a referendum on March 16 and general elections later this year.
Police last month vowed to crack down on non-governmental organisations saying some pose a "serious security threat".
In February, authorities raided the offices of ZPP, a human rights NGO, purportedly looking for "subversive materials and illegal immigrants".
They seized several documents and other materials.
Detectives have forcibly entered the offices of local poll observer group the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and also confiscated documents.
In December they ransacked the offices of rights group Zimrights.
Labels: 2009 BUDGET, 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), HARRISON NKOMO, JESTINA MUKOKO, MDC PROPAGANDA
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Zim activists sue state for $500m
CHENGETAI ZVAUYA | HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Oct 02 2009 09:58
A prominent Zimbabwean human rights activist and eight others are suing the government for $500-million after terror charges against them were dropped because they had been beaten and tortured, their lawyer said.
Harrison Nkomo, a lawyer for activist Jestina Mukoko, said on Thursday that the national police commissioner, intelligence minister and several police officers were among those being sued for the abduction, wrongful arrest and torture of Mukoko and the others.
Mukoko is seeking $250-million of that settlement, he said, adding that the rest would be split between the other activists.
The country's Supreme Court granted the activists a permanent stay of prosecution on Monday because their constitutional rights had been violated.
Mukoko testified earlier this year that she had been tortured and assaulted in jail. The defendants appeared with bloodied, swollen faces during court appearances late last year.
"It is their prerogative to pursue any legal recourse with regard to any perceived violence they allege may have happened," said police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena. "The police will also advance and argument why they can't be held liable for anything done to Jestina and the others."
Thursday's announcement was made at a press conference hosted by the group Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights. Mukoko attended the conference but did not speak.
The organisation's director Irene Petras also called for Attorney-General Johannes Tomana to resign over his "unethical and partisan" conduct during the activists' trial.
Tomana dismissed the call and told the Associated Press that his officials had been professional.
Accusations that Mukoko and the others had been plotting to overthrow Mugabe had been widely denounced as trumped up and politically motivated. [by the MDC - MrK]
Mukoko was taken from her home in early December and held at an undisclosed location until being jailed December 23. She was freed on bail in March, only to have a Harare magistrate revoke that in May, prompting international criticism.
Some analysts saw the decision to drop charges as a new willingness by judges loyal to President Robert Mugabe to meet demands for reforms.
Mugabe formed a unity government with former opposition leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in February.
Tsvangirai said the case undermined the coalition and called for the dropping of charges against all activists and for attacks against opposition members to be stopped.
Petras said she remained concerned about seven activists from Tsvangirai's party whose whereabouts are unknown.
Hundreds of pro-democracy activists went missing in the wake of Zimbabwe's disputed elections in March 2008. -- Sapa-AP
Labels: HUMAN RIGHTS, JESTINA MUKOKO, WAYNE BVUDZIJENA
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Police file appeal against Mukoko's release
Our reporter
Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:19:00 +0000
POLICE in Harare have denied media reports that they defied a High Court order to release MDC supporters held on allegations that they were involved in the training of bandits to topple the Government of President Robert Mugabe. Police say they immediately filed a notice of appeal to the Attorney-General’s Office.
The matter will now have to be determined by the Supreme Court – a higher appellate court.
A report in the Herald newspaper said until a determination on the appeal is made by this court, the detainees which include former ZBC broadcaster, Jestina Mukoko, remain in custody.
Snr Asst Comm Bvudzijena said the High Court confirmed receipt of the appeal. “We are … advised that the noting of the appeal has an effect of suspending the High Court order. We are still holding them in custody until the appeal is heard,” he said.
Mukoko, who is now director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, and eight others were to be released to the Avenues Clinic after the High Court ruled Wednesday.
They would have been kept under police guard until December 29 when they would appear at the magistrates’ court for a ruling on their application for refusal of remand.
The other eight people held who are all members of the opposition MDC party are Broderick Takawira, Gandhi Mudzingwa, Andrison Shadreck Manyere, Zacharia Nkomo, Mapfumo Garutse, Chinoto Zulu, Regis Mujeyi and Chris Dhlamini.
Labels: JESTINA MUKOKO
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Zim judge orders release of 32 treason detainees
Written by George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Friday, December 26, 2008 11:46:28 AM
ZIMBABWE High Court judge Yunus Omerjee on Wednesday evening ordered the immediate release of Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) director Jestina Mukoko and 31 opposition MDC activists.
Mukoko and the MDC activists are accused by the state of recruiting people for military training in neighbouring Botswana.
But delivering his ruling, justice Omerjee declared the detention of Mukoko and the MDC activists illegal.
He ruled that Mukoko and eight others were to be released to Harare's Avenues Clinic under police guard.
The other eight suspects are Broderick Takawira, Gandhi Mudzingwa, Andrison Shadreck Manyere, Zacharia Nkomo, Mapfumo Garutse, Chinoto Zulu, Regis Mujeyi and Chris Dhlamini.
The court ruled that while in hospital, the accused will have access to their lawyers and relatives and they are to be released to the Avenues Clinic, which was their choice, after they claimed that they had been mistreated whilst in detention.
Justice Omerjee further ruled that the accused persons would be under guard until December 29, 2008 when they are expected to appear at the magistrate's court for a ruling on their application for refusal of remand.
The accused were released on the ruling of a previous High Court order, which declared their detention as illegal because they had been held for more than the stipulated 48 hours before being taken to court.
Meanwhile, 12 other suspected MDC activists that were to be released immediately after the High Court ruling are Violet Mupfuranhewe, Fidelis Chiramba, Collen Mutemagau, Concilia Chinanzvavana, Emmanuel Chinanzvavana, Fanwell Tembo, Larry Gaka, Pieta Kaseke, Terry Musoni, Agrippa Kakonda, Nigel Mutemagau and Lloyd Tarumbwa.
The High Court also ruled that the detention of 11 others, who were yet to be brought to court, was illegal as previously ruled, hence they should equally be released immediately.
The other 11 accused persons are Pascal Gonzo, Gwenzi Kahiya, Lovemore Machokota, Charles Muza, Tawanda Bvumo, Ephraim Mabeka, Edmore Vangirai, Peter Munyanyi, Bothwell Pasipamire, Graham Matehwa and a Makwedzadzimba.
According to the state's submissions, Mukoko and eight others are accused of recruiting people for military training in Botswana.
The state alleges that they were recruiting people to undergo military training in Botswana with a view of forcibly deposing the present government and replacing it with the Morgan Tsvangirai led government.
The charge has been denied by their defence team.
It is being alleged that in April 2008, a Mr. Manuel recruited Ricardo Hwasheni, a police constable based at Waterfalls in Harare to undergo military training in Botswana with a view to forcibly deposing the government.
Manuel allegedly tasked Hwasheni to recruit four other policemen, promising them US$2,000 each.
Labels: COURTS, JESTINA MUKOKO
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Jestina Mukoko
By Stephen Gowans
December 25, 2008
Western media have recently raised alarm over the arrest of anti-Mugabe activist Jestina Mukoko, leader of the Zimbabwe Peace Project. Mukoko has been accused of trying to recruit government opponents for military training to overthrow the Mugabe government. [1] Mukoko’s arrest has been condemned as illegitimate by the Western media, and the Zimbabwe government’s accusations against Mukoko have been dismissed as unfounded.
Anti-Mugabe activist Jestina Mukoko has been accused of trying to recruit a militia to overthrow the Mugabe government.
Unlike the Western media, which is certain that any charge by Mugabe against his opponents is false, (and that any charge by Mugabe opponents against Mugabe is true), I have no idea whether Mukoko has been involved in a plot to recruit government adversaries for military training or not.
I do believe, however, that the accusation can’t be dismissed out of hand. There is sufficient evidence to tie Mukoko to efforts to overthrow the Mugabe government. The accusation must, therefore, be regarded as credible on the surface. At the same time, however, it must be acknowledged that plausibility does not equal proof, and that Mukoko may indeed be innocent.
Let’s place the accusation in context.
Mugabe’s government is trying to free Zimbabwe from neo-colonialism. Neo-colonialism is the condition in which a former colony, while winning a nominal political independence, has failed to achieve economic independence. Under neo-colonialism, the pattern of ownership of a country’s productive assets remains largely unchanged from colonial times. The newly “independent” government takes over the country’s administrative tasks, while settlers and the former colonial masters continue to reap the benefits of owning the country’s productive assets and natural resources. Since challenging the pattern of ownership threatens to touch off an economic crisis and invite intervention from outside, newly independent governments typically shy away from anti-neo-colonial measures, seeking to accommodate, rather than antagonize, settlers and outside owners. This has not been the Mugabe government’s approach since the late 1990s.
After independence, a tiny minority of people of European descent continued to own the most productive farmland, while ownership of the country’s mineral wealth remained largely in the hands of outsiders. Access to credit and development aid from international lending institutions was made contingent on adopting economic policies that favored the economic elite of donor countries, i.e., the same outsiders who already dominated the economy. The prospect for the indigenous population, then, was one of continued life as either landless peasants or employees of companies controlled from afar. This, in fact, was the same condition most people lived under, under colonial rule.
Mugabe’s government began to challenge Zimbabwe’s neo-colonial status around 2000, with the predictable consequence of economic backlash, as the US, Britain and the European Union imposed sanctions and blocked Zimbabwe’s access to international lines of credit, and built up an internal opposition to destabilize the country. The Mugabe government’s challenge to neo-colonialism came in the form of a fast track land reform program to redistribute land owned by 4,000 famers of European descent to 300,000 landless families [2] and indigenization laws that would see either the government or indigenous Zimbabweans take controlling stakes in all foreign-owned banks and companies.” [3]
To derail the Mugabe government’s efforts, Western powers, whose banks and corporations benefit from neo-colonialism, created a new political party out of Zimbabwe’s civil society. The MDC, the Movement for Democratic Change, would seek to remove Mugabe’s government and reverse its offending anti-neo-colonial policies, through electoral challenges, and by crying foul whenever electoral challenges failed. Mugabe would be accused of rigging elections (long before they had been held), and supporters of the MDC would be called into the streets whenever their party lost, in an effort to recreate the color-coded revolutions that Western governments had promoted to topple governments elsewhere. Like the parties that had benefited from Western-guided color revolutions in other countries, Zimbabwe’s MDC was in favour of keeping the levers of the economy firmly in the hands of outsiders (which is to say, in the hands of the same forces that back the party and shape its policies. [4])
At the same time, the US Congress, through its National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and the US State Department, through its United States Agency for International Development (USAID), took a hand in nurturing and strengthening Zimbabwe’s civil society as a pole of opposition to the Mugabe government. This is where Mukoko comes in. While anti-Mugabe activists are depicted as independents who challenge the government through grassroots efforts, they are almost invariably funded, aided, advised and mentored by Western governments working through foundations and agencies. There is very little that is independent or spontaneous about them.
Mukoko is a member of the board of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), an organization which is interlocked with a number of other Western-funded anti-Mugabe groups, and which receives its funding from the NED and USAID. The NED was established after the CIA was implicated in the covert funding of foreign political parties, trade unions, journals, newspapers, church groups and in the publication of anti-Communist literature, including George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Rather than getting out of the illegitimate business of nurturing foreign organizations to advance US financial and corporate interests abroad, Washington decided that the taint of covert CIA backing could be avoided by separating these activities from the CIA and bringing them out into the open. And so the NED was born. [5] Mukoko, then, is a senior member of an organization whose funding comes from the successor to a CIA program which shares the same mandate – to nurture organizations which operate, whether consciously or not, to advance the interests of US banks and corporations overseas. The ZESN’s other funder, USAID, boasts that it is the undisputed leader in nurturing anti-government civil society opposition in Zimbabwe. It operates through a CIA-interlocked organization led by former New York investment banker and Michael Milken right-hand man, Peter Ackerman. [6] Revealing the organization’s true mandate, USAID Assistant Administrator for Africa, Katherine Almquist, says her agency is prepared to re-engage with Zimbabwe (in a friendly way) once Zimbabwe shows “respect for property rights” [7] – that is, once the Mugabe government’s challenges to the patterns of ownership established under colonialism are reversed.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has called for military intervention to topple the Mugabe government, with another bogus advocate of peace, the Dalai Lama.
The Mugabe government has gone beyond simply accusing Mukoko of wanting to overthrow the government – it has accused her of wanting to do so violently by recruiting government opponents for military training. Is this credible? The Western media dismiss the accusation out of hand, as if violence is the farthest thing from the minds of Mugabe’s opponents, and could hardly be embraced by the leader of a “peace project.” But is it? A Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and men of the cloth have been among the most bloodthirsty proponents of military intervention in Zimbabwe. And one in particular, South African Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, is among the most ardent advocates of the use of violence to topple the Mugabe government. On June 27, Tutu announced that “the world had the right to intervene in Zimbabwe and that African countries should blockade landlocked Zimbabwe.” [8] Earlier this month he “said on Dutch TV that Mugabe must stand down or be removed ‘by force’.” [9] A few days later he told BBC radio that the African Union should launch a military assault to oust the Zimbabwean president. [10] But when the MDC warned before the last elections that a Mugabe victory would spark violence, Tutu’s lust for violence was nowhere in evidence. Instead, he urged Mugabe to step down to avert the threat of bloodshed. “Anything that would save the possibilities of bloodshed, of conflict, I am quite willing to support,” he said, adding that “the people of Zimbabwe have suffered enough, and we don’t…want any more possibilities of bloodshed.” [11] And yet today Tutu calls for the bloodshed and violence of a military invasion and wishes a blockade upon the people of Zimbabwe who “have suffered enough.” He’s for peace, when peace means Mugabe stepping down, and for war, when war means Mugabe being toppled. In other words, he’s for Mugabe’s ouster, whether brought about peacefully or not. In July, 2007, the now discredited Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, one of Tutu’s fellow clergymen, urged Zimbabweans to take up arms against their government, claiming he was “ready to lead the people, guns blazing.” [12] When he realized his charge, guns blazing, would be a lonely one, he urged “Britain to raid Zimbabwe and remove Mugabe.” [13] For his part, the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, a black Ugandan, has urged Britain to bury its “colonial guilt” and lead a charge to remove Mugabe by violence. [14] The strategy is clear: Recruit black Africans to demand a military assault to grant the West permission (more than that, to beseech the West) to oust Mugabe by force. And so, we can ask: If black African Churchmen acting on behalf of Western masters can advocate violence to topple the Mugabe government, is the idea of a black African civil society activist bound up with the NED and USAID acting to do the same really so absurd?
Of course, what’s credible is not always what is. Mukoko may indeed be innocent of the charge of participating in the recruitment of a militia. But we shouldn’t be prepared to dismiss the accusation as unfounded, simply because the Western media has. We can be clear on a few points: Mukoko is an adversary of the Zimbabwe government — she would like to see it toppled; the successor to the Mugabe government, if it is brought down, will be the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC; the MDC will immediately move to reverse the Mugabe government’s anti-neo-colonial policies; land reform will be halted, if not reversed, pro-foreign investment policies will be implemented to secure IMF and World Bank loans, and foreign ownership controls will be abandoned; black Zimbabweans will return to the colonial condition of being landless peasants and employees of companies controlled from outside.
Zimbabweans, then, face a choice: between breaking free from neo-colonialism or giving free reign to civil society activists, like Mukoko, to bring down the only government that, at this point, will realistically pursue anti-neo-colonial policies. If Mukoko is guilty of recruiting a militia, she should be jailed. At this point, the idea that the accusation against her is a preposterous one carries no weight.
1. Associated Press, December 24, 2008.
2. Robert Mugabe. Address to the FAO, June 3, 2008.
3. Ranganai Chidemo, “Mugabe warns industry and the financial sector,” talkzimbabwe.com, December 21, 2008.
4. Stephen Gowans, “US Government Report Undermines Opposition’s Claim of Independence,” What’s Left, October 4, 2008, http://gowans.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/us-government-report-undermines-zimbabwe-opposition%e2%80%99s-claim-of-independence/
5. Michael Barker, “The New York Times “Reports”
On The National Endowment For Democracy,” swans.com, October 20, 2008. http://www.swans.com/library/art14/barker06.html#24
6. Stephen Gowans, “US Government Report Undermines Opposition’s Claim of Independence,” What’s Left, October 4, 2008, http://gowans.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/us-government-report-undermines-zimbabwe-opposition%e2%80%99s-claim-of-independence/
7. Testimony of Katherine Almquist, USAID Assistant Administrator for Africa, “The Crisis in Zimbabwe and Prospects for Resolution.” Subcommittee on African Affairs, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, July 15, 2008.
8. Reuters, June 27, 2008.
9. Tracy McVeigh, “Mugabe must be toppled now - Archbishop of York,” The Guardian (UK), December 7, 2008.
10. “Tutu calls for threat of force to deal with Mugabe,” Associated Press, December 14, 2008.
11. “Mugabe must step down with dignity,” The Times (London) April 2, 2008.
12. Sunday Times (UK), July 1, 2007.
13. Ibid.
14. Observer (UK), September 16, 2007.
Labels: JESTINA MUKOKO, STEPHEN GOWANS
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Zimbabwe activist to appear in court on Mugabe plot charge
Written by MacDonald Dzirutwe
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 2:32:34 PM
HARARE (Reuters) - A former Zimbabwean newscaster and nine other opposition activists are expected to appear in court on Wednesday on charges of plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe's government, state media reported.
Jestina Mukoko, head of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was taken away at gunpoint in Harare on December 3 by unidentified men and the High Court had ordered police to find her. Police had previously said Mukoko was not in their custody.
Recent arrests of activists have prompted opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to threaten to suspend deadlocked negotiations with Mugabe on sharing power, adding to doubts over chances for a deal that could rescue Zimbabwe from economic meltdown.
The state-run Herald newspaper said the activists were to appear in court on charges of recruiting or attempting to recruit people to undergo military training to topple the government.
Some of the activists had recruited people for military training in Botswana, including a police constable, the newspaper said, citing a police statement.
It said the plan was to "forcibly depose" Mugabe's government and replace it with one headed by opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Tsvangirai.
Zimbabwe has accused Botswana of training opposition insurgents to oust Mugabe, increasing tensions between the neighbors and adding to doubts over a power-sharing deal.
Botswana, one of Mugabe's toughest critics, denied the allegations.
The opposition says scores of its activists were abducted and killed in the run-up to a June presidential run-off election. Tsvangirai boycotted the vote after the attacks, allowing Mugabe to win the one-candidate poll.
A September 15 power-sharing agreement has ground to a halt because of disagreement over control of key ministries.
Zimbabwe has sunk deeper into crisis as the stalemate drags on. Hyper-inflation means prices double every day, a cholera epidemic has killed nearly 1,200 people.
Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu accused South Africa of betraying its legacy of struggling against apartheid by failing to take strong action against Mugabe.
Tutu also told the BBC in an interview that military force against Mugabe's government should not be ruled out.
"How much more suffering is going to make us say 'No we have given Mr. Mugabe enough time?'," Tutu asked in an interview with the BBC's Radio 4.
South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma called for a quick end to Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis.
"The New Year must bring a speedy resolution to this utterly untenable situation," said Zuma in a Christmas message.
Labels: COURTS, JESTINA MUKOKO
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