In a busy day at court for Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), the 26 members on trial in Gweru were finally removed off remand today. A visibly irate magistrate refused to further remand the group and had harsh words for the prosecutor when he once again confessed that the docket was not ready. She accused the state of not being serious about the matter and went on to state that the accused had been highly inconvenienced by the whole process, with some of them having sell goats in order to make the court hearings. She ordered the police to proceed by way of summons if they ever gathered the necessary evidence. The group of 26 had been arrested in March whilst launching the People’s Charter in the Midlands town. They have appeared on remand on at least four occasions since their March arrest.

In a separate incident, in Bulawayo the four members arrested during a localised housing demonstration in Mabutweni in October last year, again appeared in remand court this morning. They did not have the same luck as their Gweru comrades and were further remanded to 28 September.