Madhuku, Biti file urgent court bid over police disruptions at private meetings

Source: www.newzimbabwe.com

Prominent lawyers and politicians Lovemore Madhuku and Tendai Biti have filed an urgent High Court application accusing police of disrupting their private meetings and targeting them as debate over the proposed Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No. 3 Bill escalates. The application, lodged at the High Court of Zimbabwe in Harare, was filed by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Madhuku and Biti against the Minister of Home Affairs and the Zimbabwe Republic Police Commissioner-General. In the urgent application, the applicants are seeking a declaratory order and other relief after alleging repeated interference by police and unidentified men when they attempted to hold meetings to discuss the proposed constitutional amendments.

The matter is yet to be set down for hearing. In his founding affidavit, Madhuku told the court that tensions escalated on March 1 when members of the National Constitutional Assembly gathered at Bumbiro House in central Harare for what he said was a private meeting. The premises also house his law firm. He said about 500 members had gathered when unidentified men forced their way into the property. “As we were about to start our meeting, I was alerted to persons breaking the gate to the entrance demanding to gain entry into the premises,” Madhuku said.

When he approached the gate to investigate, he encountered five men wearing balaclavas. “They started saying that I was giving them problems. They then started to beat me with truncheons all over my body,” he said. Madhuku described the assault as prolonged and brutal. “The beating lasted for about ten minutes. The beating was severe, savage, and sadistic. It was intrinsically barbaric,” he said. “It appears as if I was being assaulted by zombies.” He told the court that police vehicles had been stationed outside the premises at the time of the attack, but officers did not intervene. “From the broken gate, I could see that the Police could see and hear that I was being beaten,” he said. “Either our assailants were Police officers or their accomplices.

I find the acts and omissions of the police quite reprehensible.” According to Madhuku, the attack caused panic among the gathering members. “As I was being beaten, members who had gathered started scaling the perimeter wall, running away. There was chaos,” he said. He said some young men attempted to rescue him but were also attacked. “They numbered about ten. My assailants turned on these young men and started beating them with truncheons.

Like me, they were also thoroughly assaulted,” he said. Madhuku said he was later taken to a clinic where he was hospitalised. “I was seriously injured from the assaults. I sustained blunt trauma all over the body. The pain was unbearable,” he said. In the application, the applicants argue that the meeting was private and therefore did not require notification to the police under the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act. “In terms of the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act, we were not obliged to notify the police of the meeting,” Madhuku said. “Bumbiro House is a private place and our meeting was not a public gathering.” He also accused police of issuing a statement suggesting organisers had notified them about the meeting. “I must categorically state that I had not given any notice to the police and none of our members had done so,” he said.

Madhuku argued that the disruption violated several constitutional rights, including the right to dignity, personal security, freedom of assembly and political rights. “It is unlawful for members of the Police to prevent, disrupt or in any way interfere with members of the public’s meetings in private places,” he said. “The Police cannot and should not prevent or interfere with private meetings under the guise or excuse of maintaining law and order.” He further alleged that unidentified individuals sometimes attack citizens while police officers look on. “It appears quite often the Police either invite or are accompanied by nameless and faceless persons who then assault those gathered whilst the Police turn a blind eye,” he said. In a supporting affidavit, Biti told the court that he and members of the Constitutional Defenders Forum had also faced disruptions while trying to organise meetings to discuss the constitutional amendment. Tendai Biti He said a private meeting scheduled for February 28 at the Zimbabwe Women’s Bureau in Harare had been blocked by police despite organisers notifying authorities out of courtesy. “Due to the prevailing security situation you are advised to seek an alternative venue to hold your intended meeting,” Biti quoted from a police letter.

He said organisers moved the meeting to another venue but were again stopped. “We were surprised when the Police handed us a letter… advising that they had prohibited our meeting,” he said. Biti also told the court that since early March, police had stationed heavily armed officers outside his law offices in Milton Park. “A ten-ton truck is now permanently stationed opposite the offices of my practice. It is full of police officers armed with an assortment of weapons ranging from AK-47 rifles, truncheons and tear smoke canisters,” he said.

Several police vehicles and unmarked cars were also stationed nearby, he added. “I do not know which law and order the Police were referring to. I am a law-abiding citizen. I have not broken any law,” Biti said. He said he was even chased by unmarked vehicles after confronting police officers about their presence. “As I was driving away, I was chased by two unmarked motor vehicles. All this was in full glare of the police who did nothing,” he said.

Biti told the court he believes the actions are meant to stop discussions about the constitutional amendment. “I have no doubt that what the Police are doing is to prevent me and others from discussing the Constitution of Zimbabwe (Amendment) No. 3 Bill, 2026,” he said. The applicants argue the matter is urgent because Parliament opened a 90-day consultation period on the proposed amendment beginning February 16. “Applicants and others need to meet and take a firm position on the proposed bill,” Madhuku said. “I must be clear, Applicants are opposed to the proposed amendment. However, this is no good reason for the Respondents or anyone to seek to bar our private meetings.” They also allege that individuals claiming to be ruling party supporters have threatened those opposing the amendments, while police failed to act. “There are ongoing threats against us,” the application states. “The interference of the Police is ongoing.” The applicants say the court must urgently intervene to stop the alleged disruptions. “I therefore contend that this matter is self-evidently urgent and cannot wait,” Madhuku said.

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Related topics: Lovemore Madhuku, Tendai Biti, High Court, police disruptions, constitutional amendments, Zimbabwe, National Constitutional Assembly, Constitution Amendment Bill, political interference

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