HARARE – The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has announced it wants to appeal Joanna Mamombe and Cecilia Chimbiri’s acquittal by the High Court in a case the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activists were being accused of falsely accusing the state of abducting and torturing them back in 2020.

The state alleged the two, who were initially charged with fellow party activist Netsai Marova who skipped the country over alleged persecution, faked their abduction to soil government’s image.

They were accused of publishing falsehoods.

The two were cleared of any wrongdoing by Harare High Court judge, Priscilla Munangati Manongwa who ruled that their prosecution was driven by malice.

Their acquittal came after they appealed Harare magistrate Faith Mushure’s decision to trash their application for discharge at the close of the state’s case.

In a statement Wednesday, NPA said the judge erred in reaching the not guilty verdict.

“The state will be appealing the decision of the High Court in the case of Joanna Mamombe and Cecelia Revai Chimbiri versus the Chief Magistrate F Mushure NO and the state.

“The state is of the considered view that the judgment is defective for want of compliance with the High Court Act (Chap 7:06) as well as precedent which provides that another judge must concur with the presiding judge before the judgment is handed down.

“The state is also contending that the judge grossly misdirected herself by interfering with the unterminated proceedings from the lower court as the termination of proceedings in this case was unjustified.

“Furthermore, the state is certain that another court presented with the same facts might come to a different conclusion,” said NPA.

Manongwa ruled the state case was full of “malice and falsehoods” in its pursuit of the case.

“The misapplication of the law by the court coupled by the failure to find that the evidence placed before the court did not suffice to put the applicants to their defence, makes the decision irrational.

“Thus, as stated in the foregoing paragraphs, the decision of the first respondent (Vongai Guuriro Muchuchuti) is found to be grossly unreasonable, irrational, characterised by bias and malice and cannot be in accordance with real and substantial justice.

“The applicants cannot be pushed into a defence case to supplement the inadequacies of the state case and hope that in the process they incriminate themselves,” said the judge.

The judge also said to adopt such an approach would be unconstitutional and against the principles that place the burden on the state to prove its case and, in this case, on a prima facie basis at the close of the state case.

“It is not for the court to try and prop up a crumbling case; a court has to acquit in the absence of evidence to support an essential element of a charge, or where the evidence is manifestly unreliable that no reasonable court can act on it.

“The application has merit and therefore succeeds. In that regard, the applicants are entitled to a discharge at the close of the state case.

“In the result, it is ordered as follows: that the application succeeds.

“That the first respondent’s decision in CRB 45-46/20 handed down on 12 September 2022 wherein she dismissed applicants application for discharge at the close of the state case be and is hereby set aside and substituted with the following: ‘The accused persons Joanna Mamombe and Cecilia Revai Chimbiri be and are hereby found not guilty, discharged and acquitted at the close of the State case.’”