via Komichi trial deferred again | SW Radio Africa by Mthulisi Mathuthu October 29, 2013
The trial of MDC-T elections agent Morgan Komichi was on Monday deferred to the end of the week after the defence witnesses failed to turn up in court.
On Friday last week the case was postponed to this Monday, pending the calling in of witnesses. But magistrate Elijah Makomo further deferred the case to November 1st after defence witnesses did not show up in court.
According to the Daily News newspaper, one of the defence witnesses was said to be out of the country while the other one could not testify as he sat through all the trial proceedings.
Komichi was arrested on July 28th after he presented to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) an envelope containing ballot papers that were allegedly picked up from a rubbish bin.
The report said Komichi was put to defence on the closure of the case by the state after seven witnesses had provided ‘lead evidence’.
On Monday Komichi is said to have accused ZEC of ‘arranging’ his arrest.
His lawyer Alec Muchadehama reportedly told the court that ZEC mismanaged the July 31st election resulting in some ballot papers going missing. The state’s case against Komichi is that he tampered with the ballot papers and sought to discredit ZEC, accusations which he denies.
Komichi maintains that he responded to an anonymous tip-off that some ballot papers had been dumped in a rubbish bin at the Harare International Conference Centre.
On Thursday last week he told the court that when he handed the papers over to ZEC he wanted Chairperson Justice Rita Makarau ‘to establish whether or not they were authentic’ and to establish how they ended up in a bin.
COMMENTS
What is his crime? I do not see that he did anything wrong.
You cant see because you are blinded by your inherent blind loyalty to a British and American illegal regime project. Komichi was used to discredit the July elections with the hope of derailing the country’s unstoppable march towards the destruction of the remaining colonial vestiges. Komichi perhaps out of ignorance or love of money volunteered to be a hump on a road a bulldozer was rolling on. Poor Komichi, those in the winds have indeed forsaken you. But you were forewarned, your avoidable road traffic accident in Bikita involving your mother-in -law was enough to tell you that money obtained as a result of other people’s blood was demonic. It is time for you to repent and survive on your own sweat.
WTF?? Is that the way you speak to other people? If so, it’s easy to understand why you have no true friends. You’ve swallowed Mugabe’s Kool-Aid and have shown that you have no capacity for independent thought.
Justice delayed is justice denied, this partisan abuse of due process by the police and judiciary needs to stop.
This man is being punished because he is MDC. Release him on bail. Zimbabwe judicial system and Zimbabwe justice is rotten to the core, and constantly persecutes opponents of the regime.
Zec’s credibility is put to question, I wander all those commissioners can have the tenacity to tell their bosses that enough is enough. It boggles the mind to think that a Citizen can be arrested for reporting corruption by the authorities who must protect us…..shame zec shame
ITS JUST A MOVE TO TWART OPPOSITION IN THE COUNTRY BUT ITS UNACCEPTABLE THE DICTATOR MUGABE WITH HIS SELFISH THEME OF A ONE PARTY STATE IS JUST MADNESS. WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS. HE CALLS HIMSELF A WAR VET WHICH WAR DID HE FIGHT HE WAS BUSKING IN THE SUN WHEN REAL MEN WERE PERISHING FOR THE COUNTRY IS HE EVEN ABLE TO OPERATE A PELLET GUN.
Makotse da Tsotsi is, as ZANU-PFT, totally ignorant! ZANU-PFT is the bump in the road that the people of Zimbabwe will bulldoze in four years. I hope Matotsi da Tsotsi is in the way then!