Source: Bring Dzamara back dead or alive – DailyNews Live
Tendai Kamhungira 29 November 2017
HARARE – Civil society organisations and family members of abducted
political activist Itai Dzamara have demanded that the new President
Emmerson Mnangagwa do everything in his power to bring him back to his
family dead or alive.
Dzamara was abducted by five unidentified men in March 2015 and bundled
into an unmarked truck near his home in the capital Harare, according to
his family.
Itai Dzamara
The High Court had ordered police and the State intelligence agency to
search for the journalist-turned-activist who went missing after staging
sit-ins demanding the resignation of now ousted Robert Mugabe.
High Court judge David Mangota’s ruling decreed police to give a report
every Friday on the progress of the search.
Efforts to get a comment on the progress of the investigation from the
police spokesperson Charity Charamba could not yield results yesterday as
her mobile phone went unanswered.
Since the resignation of Mugabe, pressure has been piling on the new
administration to put closure on the issue.
“#Zimbabwe’s new government must act to ensure there is an investigation
into Itai’s disappearance. His family deserves answers. #WhereIsItai?”
international human rights group Amnesty International said on Twitter
yesterday.
Itai’s brother Patson, who has previously petitioned commissioner-general
of police Augustine Chihuri, former Home Affairs minister Ignatius Chombo,
National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda over the issue, renewed his call
yesterday. .
“As this `new’ government hits the ground running, I am appealing for your
help and support. I want you to help me demand answers regarding my
brother’s abduction and disappearance. I know you can help amplify my
voice and I need you to do so. We can afford to do this for a man who
stood in the gap for all of us, risking his life,” Patson said.
Other citizens are also demanding answers now that Mugabe is gone.
Lawyer Doug Coltart said an investigation into the mysterious
disappearance of the journalist must be a priority for Mnangagwa’s
government.
“A genuine, independent and thorough investigation into the abduction of
Itai Dzamara must be among the top priorities of president Mnangagwa’s new
administration. We demand answers, truth and justice. #BBID #DearED
#WhereIsItaiDzamara?” he wrote on Twitter.
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