Last week Friday, Four Prison Officers were convicted of Assaulting and breaking the legs of a prisoner and will be sentenced today.
Accused persons:
Prison Officers: Godwell Njeku, Norman Chari, Taona Nyoni and Marshal Nyandowe all of Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
Offence:
They beat up Masiiwa Vhitorini an inmate who happens to be a young brother of a Harare Magistrate Nyasha Vhitorini. They broke his left leg.
Sequence of Events
It was on 13 March 2019 when Masiiwa was tasked to clean offices of Prison Wardens. It is claimed that he picked $1 coin ie Bond Note and put it in his pocket.
This was noticed by Assistant Principal Prison Officer Njeku who then started beating him.
This attracted the attention of Prison/Correctional Officers Norman Chari, Taona Nyoni and Marshal Nyandowe who came running and joined to assault Masiiwa.
Taona Nyoni used the butt of his service AK rifle to beat Masiiwa leading to the breaking of leg.
On seeing that they had broken his leg, they carried him to the local prison clinic where they made sure that he did not tell the nurses that he had been assaulted but had just fallen.
On that following day 14 March 2019 his elder brother Magistrate Nyasha Vhitorini visited his young brother and discovered that his young brother had a plaster.
He asked what had happened and was told. He reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of the quartet.
The matter went through trial and the 4 were convicted on Friday the 13th of March 2020 exactly a year later.
They were thus remanded in custody at Harare remand prison and will be sentenced today Monday 16 March 2020.
It should be noted that in Zimbabwe prisoners are subjected to beatings by prison wardens and this is a total violation of human rights.
One of these four Norman Chari once assaulted Albert Matapo the Preieent of UCAD Green Party of Zimbabwe and current leader Zimbabwe People Power Movement (ZPPM) in 2013 who was in prison on treason charges for allegedly attempting to remove Mugabe from power.
This is according to Albert Matapo who says that this Norman Chari will have to face courts on that charge again one of the days.
If this Masiiwa Vhitorini was not related to a magistrate this matter was going to die a natural death.
It shows that a lot is happening at prison and a lot has to be done to respect human right.
