Africa Press-Nigeria:<\/p>\n
Mpofu\u2019s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said there was radio silence from the police until about 4PM, when they said they were adding a third charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was cooped up in the cell all day until they came with a new charge around 4PM. Now they accuse him of stealing a client from another law firm,\u201d Mtetwa said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Law Society of Zimbabwe led demands for Mpofu\u2019s unconditional release.<\/p>\n
Mpofu was arrested on Monday after presenting himself at a police station after armed police twice raided his homes. He was charged with two counts of defeating the course of justice.<\/p>\n
Police allege that he falsified an affidavit from someone who \u201cdoes not exist\u201d to challenge the appointment of Prosecutor General Kumbirai Hodzi last year.<\/p>\n
That application was abandoned, before being refiled, with a Harare lawyer Joshua Chirambwe now the main applicant. On the second charge, police say the affidavit used by Simbarashe Zuze, the applicant in the first case, was \u201cplagiarised\u201d by the Chirambwe.<\/p>\n
Mtetwa said Zuze existed and had been spoken to by police before. The second count disclosed no offence, she said.<\/p>\n
In the third charge added on Monday, police allege Mpofu conspired with Harare lawyer Everson Samukange, who quit Venturas and Samkange law firm without notice in 2018, to divert a file for client who was at that law firm into their own client.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdvocate Mpofu will deny that charge,\u201d said Mtetwa.<\/p>\n
The Law Society of Zimbabwe expressed \u201cprofound concern\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Law Society of Zimbabwe is anxious and concerned over the motive behind the arrest and detention. The Society recognises and stands by the principle that a lawyer must never be associated with the cause of his client,\u201d the body regulating the profession said.<\/p>\n
Top South African advocates Dali Mpofu and Thembeka Ngcukaitobi joined a chorus of international condemnation over the arrest.<\/p>\n
The arrest of Advocate Mpofu \u201cshould outrage all believers in the rule of law in Southern Africa,\u201d Ngcukaitobi said.<\/p>\n
Dali Mpofu said President Emmerson Mnangagwa \u201chas now lost all his marbles\u201d, adding on Twitter: \u201cHe also lost an election by the way! SADC and AU where are you? All that rhetoric about Africa Day last week was just empty twaddle?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mtetwa said police \u2013 who can only hold Mpofu for a maximum 48 hours within which they should present him to court \u2013 promised to present him to the Harare Magistrates Court at 8.30AM on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Police, apparently fearing protests outside the court, blocked traffic into Harare on Tuesday, although insisting that they were only enforcing the Level 2 coronavirus lockdown.<\/p>\n
Mpofu shot to prominence when he represented MDC leader Nelson Chamisa in his unsuccessful bid to overturn Mnangagwa\u2019s victory following a disputed election in July 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Africa Press-Nigeria: Mpofu\u2019s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said there was radio silence from the police until about 4PM, when they said they were adding a third charge. \u201cHe was cooped up in the cell all day until they came with a new charge around 4PM. Now they accuse him of stealing a client from another law […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":17394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[1023,585,1070],"class_list":{"0":"post-23873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"tag-hodzi","10":"tag-sadc","11":"tag-zimbabwe-police"},"yoast_head":"\n