Mail editor remanded again, no trial date

via Mail editor remanded again, no trial date 04 August 2014

EMBATTLED Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi and his co-accused brother Philip, both charged with attempted terrorism, were Monday further remanded to September 1 after the state said it was not ready to place them on trial.

The brothers, who are out of custody on bail, were arrested one after the other in June and were being accused of administering the controversial but popular “Baba Jukwa” Facebook page which dished out Zanu PF secrets and exposed scandals by top ruling party politicians.

They were charged with attempted terrorism, insurgency and banditry and attempts to subvert President Robert Mugabe’s administration, charges which they vehemently deny.

When they appeared before presiding magistrate Tendai Mahwe on Monday, the state said it was not yet done with its investigations on the matter.

“They have been remanded to the first of September,” Everson Chatambudza, a lawyer with Rubaya and Chatambudza legal practitioners said.

“The state indicated that they will then furnish them with a trial date on the first of September. We have also indicated to them ourselves that if they do not furnish them with a trial date on the first of September, then we are going to make an application for refusal of further remand.”

Chatambudza said the state had indicated earlier police would be complete with investigations by July 20 but were yet to do so, two weeks later.

“We feel it’s not fair for our clients to continue being on remand especially under very strict bail conditions they are without the state making an effort to ensure that they are tried within a reasonable period of time.”

The brothers are on $5,200 bail each, under confinement to a 40km radius from Harare, reporting to police twice a day, and were made to surrender their passports as part of their bail conditions.

The widely publicised case has since sucked in cabinet ministers Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere who have both been quizzed on what they knew about the case.

This was after Edmund, also an IT expert, had told investigators that he was contacted in August 2013 by Water minister Saviour Kasukuwere to assess as an IT expert and make an overview of information provided by a hacker.

The two ministers were last week summoned to police’s law and order divisions although details of the police inquiry remained under wraps.