Judge to be tried for helping Rusty Labuschagne

22 August 2005, 21:55

Zimbabwean president appoints judge to try judge

[2005-08-22 21:36:04

HARARE, Aug. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Monday appointed former High Court Judge Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe to preside over the corruption trial of suspended High Court Judge Benjamin Paradza.

Justice Paradza is being tried on allegations of attempting to defeat the course of justice.

Charges against him arose sometime in January 2003 when he allegedly wanted to influence Justices George Chiweshe and Maphios Cheda to release the passport of Russell Labuschagne, his business partner in a safari-hunting venture.

Labuschagne was on bail pending trial for the murder of a man he found poaching fish at his camp in Binga.

His passport was at the time being held by the Registrar of the High Court in Bulawayo as part of his bail conditions.

Labuschagne has since been convicted and jailed for 15 years for murder.

The appointment of Justice Mutambanengwe is in line with section 85 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which allows for the president to seek services of an additional judge for a limited period in consultation with the Judiciary Services Commission.

Justice Mutambanengwe said he had accepted to preside over the issue as a neutral person.

"There is a special case which I have been asked to preside over. Most of the other judges know and have worked with him (Justice Paradza). I have agreed to come and preside over the trial," he said.

Justice Mutambanengwe is currently based in Namibia where he was seconded to the Namibian High Court in 1994 for an initial period of three years.

When his term came to an end, the Namibian government asked him to stay.

After his retirement, he was appointed as the acting chief justice in the country. Enditem

Rusty
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