POLITICS

Beatrice Mtetwa's continued detention profoundly disturbing - David Coltart

MDC Secretary for Legal Affairs says arrests work of deeply embittered hardliners

It is very difficult to adequately convey the depth of my disgust at the ongoing detention of Beatrice Mtetwa. That she was arrested in the first place was bad enough; that she should still be detained in the face of an order of the High Court is profoundly disturbing.

It appears that there are people in our midst who think they are above the law. They may well believe that they are at present because they have not been held to account for their actions. But they will be held to account eventually because we will not forget those responsible for this outrageous conduct.

The people responsible for this gross miscarriage of justice are desperately out of step with the rest of the Zimbabwean people who have voted overwhelming this weekend for a new more democratic order. Their actions are a dampener on what should be a time of national pride, unity and celebration.

I believe that it is no coincidence that the arrests which led ultimately to Beatrice Mtetwa's were effected so soon after the successful conclusion of the Referendum.

I have no doubt that the arrests are the work of a group of deeply embittered hardliners who have done all they could to derail this process over the last few years and failed dismally. It is time that they woke up to the reality that the rest of the country is moving forward and they constitute a tiny minority involved in a futile but vicious rearguard action. 

It goes without saying that we call for the immediate release of Beatrice Mtetwa.

Statement issued by Senator David Coltart, Secretary for Legal Affairs MDC, March 19 2013

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