Attorney General Tomana gets death threats

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Johannes Tomana and his family were the subject of threatening phone calls from MDC-T supporters both inside and outside Zimbabwe who were demanding that he unprocedurally releases Roy Bennett as manouevres to exert pressure on the judiciary continue, the Zimbabwe Guardian has learnt.

A report in the Saturday edition of the Herald newspaper claims the AG was threatened by MDC-T activists who wanted Bennett released.

On Wednesday Bennett was remanded in custody after being indicted for trial at the High Court. From that day, to the day of Bennett's release, MDC-T officials and supporters were said to be constantly calling the AG.

An Internet news site, allegedly working with the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, was said to be at the forefront of the campaign, publishing AG Tomana’s home number and exhorting people from across the globe to bear on the AG to ignore due legal processes and release Bennett.

A reader's comment on the website described the AG as an idiot, "What’s his mobile phone number. I’d like to SMS the idiot with a few comments."

AG Tomana said he was more disappointed than frightened by the threats.

“I think this is the most disappointed I have ever been. You would think that these people who always harp on about the rule of law and the sanctity of constitutional processes would know better than this.

“This is a serious indictment on them as they flagrantly advance infringements on the constitutional authority and responsibility of the Attorney-General’s
Office.

“It is so abundantly clear that there are people who openly want to force me to make decisions that are not informed by the law.”

He said as the State prosecuting authority, it was his responsibility to make anyone suspected to have broken the law accountable for the sake of peace, security,
social cohesion and development of law-abiding citizens.

The AG said Zimbabwe had laws that had to be followed and he would not be intimidated by anyone into subverting constitutional processes and requirements.

“What is happening is totally senseless. What do two Australians and two Britons who call my home and office phones telling me ‘release Bennett or else’ have to do with Zimbabwe, more so when they have illegal sanctions on the country?

“What is their interest in subverting Zimbabwe’s judicial processes? Whose agenda are they serving?

“More worrisome is that we have political parties, which are part of Government, deciding to override the rule of law.

“Respect for the rule of law is the only way that Zimbabwe, and any other country for that matter, can develop. Institutions should be allowed to function without this kind of interference.

“Let institutions do their jobs as provided for by the law,” he said.

AG Tomana said that the charges Bennett was facing were serious and the same Australians and Britons who were phoning him would treat them with equal
gravity had this happened in their own countries.

“In America they throw people facing such charges into Guantanamo Bay. Why then do they not want Zimbabwe’s courts to deal with this matter according to the
country’s laws and universally appreciated precepts of combating terrorism?”

Besides AG Tomana, MDC-T officials have been trying to contact President Mugabe and Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa to get them to release Bennett.

Earlier this year when Bennett returned to Zimbabwe from South Africa where he had been holed up as a fugitive from the law, MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai wrote a letter to the courts in his capacity as Prime Minister seeking the release of his party’s treasurer-general into his custody.