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(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – A High Court judge has ordered that a magistrate who was presiding over the criminal case of representing Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono be disqualified from the case for failing in his job.
Justice Happias Zhou set aside magistrate Ngoni Nduna’s disqualification of Chin’ono’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa and instead disqualified the magistrate from presiding over the case.
A new magistrate will take over the case.
Chin’ono was arrested in July for allegedly inciting public violence. During bail application, Nduna ruled that human rights lawyer Mtetwa permanently recused herself from the case for alleged unprofessional conduct following comments she allegedly posted on her Facebook page “Beatrice Mtetwa and the rule of law.”
aside Harare Magistrate Ngoni Nduna’s controversial decision barring
prominent human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa from representing
freelance journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and disqualified the judicial
officer from presiding over the criminal trial of the media
practitioner.
filed an application for review seeking an order to set aside a ruling
by Magistrate Nduna disqualifying the multiple award winning human
rights lawyer from representing the media practitioner.
In the application for review filed by Doug Coltart of Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights and argued by Advocate Taona Nyamakura,
Mtetwa and Chin’ono contended that Magistrate Nduna’s ruling was
unconstitutional and effectively deprives the freelance journalist of