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State Delays Bail Hearing For Zimbabwe Opposition Members


The fate of 30 members of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, detained since March, remained uncertain Thursday, after high court judge, Ben Hlatshwayo, postponed their bail application hearing, to next Wednesday.

The 30 MDC members, are charged with various offenses, including sabotage and training bombers in South Africa.

The state asked the judge to postpone Thursday's bail hearing, because it wanted to consolidate all the eight cases the members faced, so that they could be heard concurrently.

The state also said it was awaiting the return of some detectives sent to South Africa, to investigate the allegations that the activists had received military training there.

Pedzisayi Ruhanya, senior programs manager for Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, told VOA, that the state purposely delayed the cases, because it knew the activists were innocent, but wanted to break their spirit.

The lawyer representing the detained MDC members, Alec Muchadehama, told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe, that he opposed the continued postponement of his clients' cases, but did not want to delay the process further by challenging it.

More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...

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