Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lawmaker Roy Bennett applied to the High Court on Wednesday for bail.
He was sentenced by a parliamentary committee to 15 months’ hard labour, with three months suspended, for being involved in a scuffle in which he pushed Zanu-PF Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa to the ground.
Meanwhile, Bennett’s advocate Eric Matinenga said on Tuesday evening that ”Parliament had to work within certain limits”.
”If it does something that is irrational, then it will be denying liberty to an individual in circumstances where it is plain that nobody acting rationally would have come to that decision, and the court must interfere,” Matinenga said.
Bennett’s sentenced was recommended by a parliamentary committee dominated by Zanu-PF legislators. Relatives of the popular politician, who represents the rural Eastern Highlands district of Chimanimani, said he was being kept in filthy conditions in an overcrowded cell.
In his defence, the MDC is arguing that Bennett was provoked into assaulting Zanu-PF MP when they told him his ancestors were ”thieves and murderers”. — Sapa