Trial of anti-Mugabe war veterans suspended due to messy prosecution

The Zimbabwean court on Wednesday suspended the case in which five war veterans are accused of “undermining the authority” of President Robert Mugabe, AFP news agency reports.

An earlier hearing on Tuesday was pushed to Wednesday, but the judge in the Harare court, Hosea Mujaya suspended the case whiles criticizing the prosecutor’s office for repeated requests to postpone the hearing.

“I reject any new report (…) keep your mess in your service,” the magistrate snapped. The five were said to have denounced the president’s “dictatorial” methods.

For the trial to resume, the prosecution will have to refile the case and summon back to court the war veterans, their lawyer Harrison Nkomo is quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

Nkomo had on Tuesday explained that: “We came here intending to commence the trial of Douglas Mahiya and other war veterans. Unfortunately, the matter could not commence because the State prosecutor indicated in the morning that his wife was unwell.”

SUGGESTED READING Zimbabwe vows to deal with ‘taritorous and treasonable’ war veterans

The five, including Victor Matemadanda, former Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association and Douglas Mahiya, former spokesman are accused of “undermining the authority of the president or insulting the president” in a July statement.

Aside dictatorship, they accused Mugabe of egocentrism and misrule as well as abandoning the veterans for the Zanu-PF’s youth league. All five have been officially expelled from the ruling Zanu-PF party.