Source: ‘Top officials behind Mutodi’s coup plot’ – DailyNews Live
Tarisai Machakaire 12 August 2017
HARARE – Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ally, Energy Mutodi, who is
facing charges of undermining the authority of the president and causing
disaffection among members of the defence forces, was yesterday further
detained after police convinced the court that some big shots were behind
him.
In his ruling, Harare provincial magistrate Elisha Singano said it was
justified for police to continue detaining the Zanu PF activist.
“It is the court’s considered view that the offence may have been
committed within the jurisdiction of this court, here in Zimbabwe. There
is a nexus between the accused person and the alleged postings and police
are still analysing the Facebook page and other material, which may have
been used in committing the offence.
“The court will allow police to bring cogent facts for remand purposes as
there is a genuine reason why they need more time. It is a good reason
since it can show if the accused person was acting alone or in cahoots
with other people or if someone else was abusing his Facebook account. A
further detention is therefore warranted,” ruled Singano.
Mutodi, who was arrested on Thursday night, spent yesterday locked up and
will today appear before the Harare magistrates’ courts as his case drags
on.
He was arrested after he wrote on his social networking wall, Facebook,
that Zimbabwe risked a coup if the thorny succession issue was not
resolved amicably, adding that President Robert Mugabe should consult the
army to avert chaos.
“While a military takeover may be far-fetched in Zimbabwe, it is important
for . . . Mugabe to be careful in naming his successor. Any suspicion of
unfairness or discrimination on account of tribalism or factionalism may
backfire,” he wrote.
“There are key stakeholders that need to be consulted among them the
military and the whole security establishment called the Joint Operations
Command that is chaired by vice president Mnangagwa,” he went on.
According to Josphat Chitambira, the police officer who is investigating
Mutodi, the businessman caused disaffection among defence forces as
defined in Section 30 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act
chapter 9.23 and also “undermined the authority of or insulting the
president as defined in section 33(2)(a)(i) of the same law.
“Investigations carried out so far have established that there is a
concerted effort by an organised syndicate of high-powered people, working
in cahoots with accused whom we are still working to establish.
“Police are still working with digital forensic analysts to recover
additional material from accused’s Facebook account with a view of
presenting additional charges,” said Chitambira.
However, Mutodi’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa argued that Chitambira could have
compiled that information before coming to court and avoided infringing on
her client’s liberty rights.
“It’s politicking by the police. There is no legal basis for anything that
you have said other than politics. Why are you making reference to
high-powered people in your affidavit if you are not a politician? You are
trying to rope in the court in your unlawful expedition in violation of
the accused person’s rights,” argued Mtetwa.
“A reasonable, seasoned and professional investigating officer would have
conducted investigations prior to coming to court. You do not even know
the period from which you are seeking additional information. If the
accused person opened his Facebook page in 2010 that would mean seven
years of posts you have to sift through and if you failed to deal with one
post in 24 hours what more seven years of posts,” the human rights lawyer
further argued.
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