Missing Zimbabwean rights activist to appear in court

Dec 24, 2008, 9:02 GMT

Harare - A Zimbabwean human rights activist Jestina Mukoko who was abducted from her home three weeks ago and has been missing since then, is due to appear in court Wednesday.

Citing a statement from the police, the state-run Herald newspaper said Mukoko was to be charged with attempting to recruit people for military training to try to overthrow the government.

The daily newspaper does not indicate when or where Mukoko, a director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was found.

The police denied claims that they had been holding Mukoko.

Last week, members of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights took to the streets of Harare to highlight the former broadcaster's plight. They carried banners protesting what they said was the abduction of a number of human rights activists and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters since October.

The Herald said Mukoko would appear in court in Harare with a group of MDC members facing the same charges.

Irene Petras, director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, said Wednesday that Mukoko and others detained had been denied access to a lawyer.

Petras said her organization was 'extremely concerned by the contempt by the police of High Court orders by failing or refusing to work with lawyers to ensure that the missing persons are urgently located and brought before a court of law or released forthwith.'

The MDC claims it has more than 25 supporters who have been abducted since October, including a 2-year-old toddler.

'These individuals have fundamental rights and freedoms which are being violated with complete impunity,' Petras said.

The Herald quoted the police statement as saying one of the arrested tried to recruit a police officer for military training in Botswana with a view to forcibly deposing President Robert Mugabe's government and replacing it with one led by the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

The MDC has denied the charges of training people, claiming Mugabe is using the reports to declare a state of emergency.