Published by API December 10th, 2008
Harare (Zimbabwe) - Distraught family members of former television personality turned human rights campaigner, Jestina Mukoko, who was abducted by suspected state agents, have gathered at her Norton home hoping she will be found alive.
A group of 12 people including a woman seized Mukoko -- still in her night dress -- from her Norton house at around 5am on Wednesday. Her abductors, who were reportedly driving in two unmarked vehicles, flashed police identity cards when they entered her house and did not allow her to get her medication which she has to take three times a day. They also did not allow her to take her spectacles.
"This is a difficult time for the family," her brother, Simon Mukoko said yesterday. "We are all shaken by the events which happened so suddenly. We are hoping we will get some positive feedback about her whereabouts. "We are especially worried about her health as she was not allowed to take her medication with her, any decent clothing or her glasses."
Relatives from Bulawayo and Gweru have gathered at her Nharira View house. They expressed shock at the way she was bundled into the car in full view of her 17-year-old son and two domestic workers.
"I am told they were in two unmarked cars and were hooting noisily for attention when they arrived," Simon said. "The gardener attended to them at the gate and when he tried to refuse them entry they pointed a gun at him."
Last week Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) filed an urgent High Court application seeking to force the police to produce her before the courts or to allow for a search of army and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) secret detention centres. Her lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said information gathered from relatives pointed to the involvement of state agents in the seizure of the Zimbabwe Peace Project director.
In a sworn affidavit, Mukoko's gardener, Golden Shumbayaonda, said the eight people who entered the house identified themselves as police officers. Her son, Takudzwa Dizha, was watching television when they burst into the house.
"Once the gate was opened, I saw a group of about seven men and one woman entering the yard and forcing their way in," Dizha said in the affidavit. "She pleaded with the man to allow her to dress as she was still in her night clothes. The man advised her that the meeting (with the police outside) would not take long.
"She was forcibly dragged from the house," Dizha said. "She was taken to one of the two vehicles, a silver-like Mazda Familia which had no number plates, which sped away taking the Harare direction."
Mtetwa said Mukoko's abduction and detention without access to lawyers and relatives was unlawful. She wants the High Court to order the police to take Mukoko to a Magistrates' Court or release her.
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In her application, Mtetwa said: "In the event of what I am told are the usual claims by the police that they do not know who the abductors are, that they be directed and ordered to uphold the law by investigating forthwith her whereabouts with the assistance of the lawyers who are in a position to point out well-known abduction and torture chambers used by state agents."
Source.The Standard (Zimbabwe) - December 8, 2008.