Marange diamond activist denied bail

http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=6184  

A Harare court on Friday remanded Centre for Research and Development (CRD) director Farai Maguwu in custody to June 14, to allow the police to carry out further investigations outside Zimbabwe. Describing the charges against Maguwu as serious, Magistrate Donald Ndirowei said there was need to give police more time to obtain necessary permission required to carry extra territorial investigations. "There are logistical problems such as getting Cabinet authorisation (to allow the police to carry out investigations outside Zimbabwe)," he said. "It is the courts view that this case being of a serious nature; there is need for extra-territorial investigations. The court, therefore, grants the state application that the accused be remanded in custody until July 14."

The defence team led by Beatrice Mtetwa said they would lodge an appeal at the High Court since the magistrate had not addressed the issues of law in his ruling. The police have said they want to travel to South Africa to record a statement from Kimberley Process monitor to Zimbabwe, Abbey Chikane, which they apparently want to use to nail Maguwu. Maguwu, whose Centre for Research and Development (CRD) has exposed smuggling and other illegal activities at the controversial Marange diamond mines, was arrested more than three weeks ago and charged with communicating false statements prejudicial to the state after he allegedly wrote reports detailing rights abuses by security forces at the diamond field. He faces up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.

Maguwu’s arrest came days after he met Chikane who was in the country to assess whether operations at Marange met comply with KP standards. The CRD activist allegedly handed Chikane a top state secret document detailing cases of rights abuses by soldiers and police stationed at Marange. The KP monitor handed the document to the Zimbabwean government triggering a chain of events that eventually led to Maguwu’s arrest.

The KP a fortnight ago failed to reach consensus on Chikane’s recommendations that Zimbabwe should be allowed to export Marange diamonds because it had met all conditions set by the regulator. The diamond industry watchdog will be meeting in Russia to review the Marange diamonds issue on the same day Maguwu returns to court to seek bail.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s) and not do necessarily reflect the views of the AfricaFiles' editors and network members. They are included in our material as a reflection of a diversity of views and a variety of issues. Material written specifically for AfricaFiles may be edited for length, clarity or inaccuracies.

     top of page

 back to Zimbabwe page