GWERU – MDC MPs Amos Chibaya (Mkoba) and Livingstone Chimina (Chiwundura) were denied bail on Friday after being charged with incitement of violence and public violence respectively.
Security forces rounded up 78 people after Monday’s nationwide fuel protests, among them the two lawmakers.
Of the 78 arrested, some were released as they were juveniles and of school-going age with only 32 being brought before the courts.
Prosecutor Andrew Marimo told Gweru magistrate Phathekile Msipa that of the 32, further investigations and vetting was done which led to more being released as the state could not link them with the protest, leaving only 17 to appear in court.
Some of those released were made to pay $20 fines at the Gweru Central Police Station for minor public order offences.
Chibaya and four others appeared before Gweru magistrate Charity Maphosa while Chimina and 11 others were brought before Provincial Magistrate Msipa.
Denying the suspects bail, Msipa said: “The environment is still very volatile and not yet back to normal, considering that properties were damaged and goods looted in an occurrence that is countrywide.
“Business people and traders are still afraid to open their shops. Although the state did not oppose bail, the court cannot afford the accused bail.”
On Chimina, Msipa said he is a man of influence considering he is a Member of Parliament and a high-ranking official within his MDC party. The magistrate ruled that there was a high likelihood he might commit a similar offence if granted bail.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) had called a three-day stay-away for workers starting on January 14, but youths poured out into the streets, burning tyres and blocking roads.
On Tuesday, a Choppies Supermarket in Mkoba and several shops at the Mkoba 14 Shopping Centre were looted before police and army details moved in to disperse the protesters.
In the process, the army heavily assaulted civilians including those in their homes within shopping centre’s vicinity. Teargas was launched into the yards of residents, particularly in Mkoba and Ascot suburbs.
Meanwhile, the accused youths revealed how they were brutalised by soldiers who they said has no business in arresting people. Some said they had been assaulted by uniformed soldiers who used the butts of their guns, button sticks, whips, fists, open hands, sticks and logs. One woman said she had been made to roll over a burnt tyre’s ashes.
