THE State yesterday withdrew the murder charges against the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) leader Obert Masaraure and secretary-general Robert Chere before plea after the trial failed to kick off for nearly eight years.
Masaraure, who was being represented by Doug Coltart, appeared before Harare resident magistrate Dennis Mangosi .
Allegations were that on June 1, 2016, at around 10pm, Masaraure and his accomplices, still at large, who were in the company of the now-deceased Roy Issa met at Quill Club at Ambassador Hotel, where they were imbibing.
It is alleged they left the place 30 minutes later and went to Cresta Jameson Hotel, where Issa, a youth activist and member of Artuz, died.
In court, prosecutors were alleging that on June 11, 2016, Masaraure and Chere together with four unnamed accomplices, went on a drinking spree in Harare with Issa, where after a misunderstanding with him, they ganged up against him and assaulted him in the head with unknown weapons, resulting in his death.
The prosecutors charged that the accused persons concealed the offence by falsely claiming that Issa fell from the balcony of Jameson Hotel, resulting in his death.
