A High Court judge seen as having angered the government by ruling against it was released on Tuesday after 24 hours in police custody.
Judge Benjamin Paradza, the first sitting judge to be arrested in Zimbabwe, was ordered released by a Harare magistrate but told to reappear on March 21 on charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and corruption, his lawyer said.
Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe freed Paradza on bail of 30 000 Zimbabwe dollars ($545) and ordered him to surrender his passport. State prosecutors said the judge attempted to defeat the course of justice by telephoning fellow judges in Bulawayo, asking them to release the passport of a business partner accused of murder.
Paradza has denied the allegations, his lawyer, Jonathan Samkange said. Paradza, a former fighter in President Robert Mugabe’s guerrilla army, said before his arrest he was warned not to embarrass the government with his court rulings, Samkange said.
Paradza said he was told: ”You have been appointed to look after the government’s interests, but you have embarrassed the government and now we are going to embarrass you.”
State television on Monday denied the judge’s arrest was linked to a ruling last month, ordering police to release Mayor Elias Mudzuri, who heads the opposition-controlled Harare municipal council. Mudzuri was arrested on January 11 on allegations he held an illegal political meeting in western Harare. Paradza granted a release order saying the mayor was holding a legitimate meeting with city tax payers to hear their grievances on the council’s services.
Police ignored that order and kept the mayor in custody for two days under the country’s security laws.
Lawyers for Human Rights, an independent lawyers’ group, condemned Paradza’s arrest. The group said the office of a judge must be respected and arrest must only be used as a last resort. ”We are disappointed and extremely concerned at the continued pressure on the judiciary,” it said, adding that the hasty arrest of the judge put the liberty and safety of every Zimbabwean at risk. Zimbabwe has been wracked by political and economic turmoil since the government began a program to seize white-owned farms in 2000.
The government has moved to crack down on independent-minded judges, human rights groups and the media and has been accused of packing the courts with sympathetic judges.
In September, retired Judge Feargus Blackie was arrested and detained on charges he changed a ruling in favor of a woman the state alleged he had an illicit affair with. Blackie had earlier sentenced Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa to three months in jail for contempt of court for failing to answer a court summons.
Police and judicial authorities ignored Blackie’s contempt ruling. In August, Paradza struck down government eviction notices affecting 54 white farm owners on grounds they were not served correctly under land nationalization laws. He also ordered the government to issue a passport to a veteran human rights activist after she was stripped of her Zimbabwean citizenship. – Sapa-AP