President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s lawyer, Advocate Tinomuda Chinyoka, has slammed the arrest of MDC politician Job Wiwa Sikhala as a waste of time which detracts from fighting corruption.
Chinyoka also insisted that Job Sikhala should not have been arrested or charged with treason for statements he made at a rally because they are protected by free speech. He also said that there was nothing treasonous about Sikhala as the statements were not sinister but were made in an excitable state.
Posting on social media, Chinyoka said,
For the record, l think that treason is a crime about which there should be very few defendants if any. My excitable brother Job Wiwa Sikhala is given to hyperbole, he is not treasonous. There are better criminals worth pursuing, like those fingered by the Zanu-PF Youth League.
Rather than criminalizing free speech, let’s focus on corruption, which is the real treason. It is corruption that will undermine a constitutionally elected government. The arrest of an excitable politician who will be found NOT GUILTY shortly is a detraction from that.
Chinyoka is part of the team that represented President Emmerson Mnangagwa during last year’s Constitutional Court challenge after the July 30 elections. Chinyoka also applied for the job of Prosecutor General and despite coming second during the interviews, President Emmerson Mnangagwa passed him over and preferred Patrick Hodzi who placed 6th in the interviews.
He has since applied to be one of the commissioners of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
Meanwhile, Sikhala is expected to appear in court today after he was whisked away to Masvingo by the authorities without the knowledge of his lawyers.
-Agencies
