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War vets besiege magistrates’ court

    JOHANNESBURG

    A group of over 200 war veterans and workers besieged Harare Magistrates’ Court on Monday and disrupted business as they protested against the continued detention of their colleagues facing kidnapping and extortion charges, the state-owned ‘Herald’ said on Tuesday.

    The report said police in riot gear “immediately descended” on the war veterans and drove them out of the court buildings. Inspector Tarwireyi Tirivavi, of police general headquarters was quoted as saying that no arrests had been made.

    The charges against former war veterans vice chairman for Harare province Mike Moyo were dropped for lack of evidence, the report said. “The allegations did not disclose any offence resulting in the Attorney General’s Office declining to prosecute and so my client (Moyo) is a free man,” said his lawyer, Aston Musunga. Fifteen other war veterans, who were detained over the weekend on similar charges were denied bail after their application was dismissed. They will appear on 6 June.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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