LOCAL businesswoman Tatiana Aleshina yesterday told Harare magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti-Guwuriro that she was left traumatised and embarrassed when Citizens for Coalition Change vice-president Tendai Biti charged towards her shouting obscenities at the Harare Magistrates Court in November 2020.
Biti is under trial for verbally assaulting Aleshina inside the court grounds after a court case involving her employer.
“I heard some noise from behind and turned, only to see Biti shouting at me, he was shaking and I thought he would kill me as he was aggressive,” Aleshina told Biti’s lawyer Alec Muchadehama during cross-examination.
When Muchadehama put it to Aleshina that she was the one who charged towards Biti, she insisted that she was the victim, adding that his actions demeaned her.
“It is Biti who charged towards me saying you, you, you stupid, stupid stupid, idiot. He was so unprofessional and you could not expect that from a lawyer,” Aleshina told court.
When Muchadehama asked why she did not report the matter to the police, she said as a foreigner she wanted to first advise her embassy which in turn asked her to file a police report.
Muchuchuti-Guwuriro postponed the matter to Tuesday for continuation of trial.
The trial took two years to commence due to several court applications filed by the accused.
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Some of the applications for referral of the matter to the Constitutional Court were dismissed, while applications for recusal of the magistrates were also unsuccessful.
During the trial, the defence asked several questions in relation to the complainant’s employer but she said she could not respond to them as she had not been cleared to speak on behalf of their companies.
