Zimbabwe: Lawyers take to the streets to protest increasing intimidation

The Zimbabwean reports scores of lawyers gathered in Harare on Monday to protest the increasing intimidation tactics being used by the state against them, as they try to defend various human rights activists in the country.

The group of about 60 lawyers, dressed in their black gowns, braved the pouring rain in the capital to march to the office of Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa. The group had first attended Monday’s High Court proceedings, in support of their colleague Mordecai Mahlangu who was arrested two weeks ago on charges of interfering with the course of justice. Mahlangu was arrested after writing a letter to Attorney General Johannes Tomana, saying his client Peter Hitschmann had no evidence to offer in the treason trial against MDC Treasurer General Roy Bennett (photo).

From the High Court the lawyers marched to Chinamasa’s offices to hand over a petition, calling for an end to the ongoing harassment of lawyers and rights defenders alike.

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