HIGH Court judge Justice Esther Muremba yesterday granted $100 bail to each of the 24 members of Madzibaba Ishmael Mufani–led Johanne Masowe WeChishanu Apostolic sect facing charges of assaulting police officers and journalists at their shrine in Budiriro, Harare, recently.
PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI
As part of their bail conditions, the Vapostori were ordered to reside at their given addresses and to report at Harare Central Police Station every Monday.
By end of business yesterday, it was not clear whether the Vapostori had paid the required bail money amid reports that only one of them had managed to raise $70.
The 24 were part of the 36 sect members arrested in connection with the matter.
In granting them bail, Justice Muremba noted that the suspects’ record did not demonstrate that they were a threat to public safety.
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“There was no evidence placed on record to show appellants will endanger the public if released and there is nothing to show that there will be a public outcry,” Justice Muremba ruled.
The sect members were arrested after they allegedly assaulted and injured nine police officers, journalists and officials from the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ) who were part of a team invited to witness the banning of the sect over allegations of human rights abuses.
Violence broke out after ACCZ president Johannes Ndanga ordered the police to arrest one of the sect members who allegedly kept interjecting during his speech.
This angered the other sect members who immediately pounced on the “intruders” and pummelled them using their shepherds’ staffs. Nine police officers, two journalists and an ACCZ official were left injured while a ZBC vehicle and video camera were extensively damaged in the process.
Meanwhile, anti-riot police yesterday kept a hawk’s eye on several female members of the sect clad in their church regalia yesterday who packed the courtroom in solidarity with their arrested fellow congregants.
The Vapostori launched an appeal at the High Court after Harare provincial magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe last week denied them bail, saying they were of no fixed abode although the National Prosecuting Authority had conceded to bail.
The suspects will be back in court on Monday for routine remand.