Update on Roy Bennett
January 25 2005
The blistered hands are testimony to the hard labour that Roy Bennett is now enduring on a daily basis. He is no stranger to physical work, but the sheer exertion of labouring on the prison farm is leaving its mark on Roy. However, his spirits are high and he is enjoying working outdoors but he never forgets the injustice that he is suffering. An injustice made worse with every day he spends in prison, especially in light of the fact that Zimbabwe's courts are continuing to reserve judgement or are delaying hearing cases relating to the imprisonment of Roy Bennett.
Despite appeals by his lawyers that their client is likely to suffer irreparable prejudice, there appears to be no movement by the judiciary to settle the Bennett cases. There has been a noticeable delay by the High Court concerning the Application to Review the Parliamentary procedure that resulted in the Honourable MP for Chimanimani being sentenced to a year in prison with labour. In addition, Justice Hungwe has still not passed judgement in the case brought before him in November of last year applying for Bennett's release pending the outcome of the Review application.
Furthermore, the legal team has also prepared a Supreme Court challenge on the grounds that Bennett was denied a fair trial as guaranteed by Zimbabwe's constitution. No date has been given by the court to hear this case despite its obvious urgency.
While the courts' decisions are to be respected, questions must be asked about the numerous judicial delays related to this case that have so far failed to result in a single judgement. Roy Bennett has now been in prison for almost three months. This is an obvious example of justice delayed is justice denied.
Roy and the family would like to thank everyone who has sent letters and cards to him as he has received so much mail and it is very uplifting for him. Roy asked Heather to reply to each one, but because of the volume, she is not able to.
Friends of Roy Bennett
The blistered hands are testimony to the hard labour that Roy Bennett is now enduring on a daily basis. He is no stranger to physical work, but the sheer exertion of labouring on the prison farm is leaving its mark on Roy. However, his spirits are high and he is enjoying working outdoors but he never forgets the injustice that he is suffering. An injustice made worse with every day he spends in prison, especially in light of the fact that Zimbabwe's courts are continuing to reserve judgement or are delaying hearing cases relating to the imprisonment of Roy Bennett.
Despite appeals by his lawyers that their client is likely to suffer irreparable prejudice, there appears to be no movement by the judiciary to settle the Bennett cases. There has been a noticeable delay by the High Court concerning the Application to Review the Parliamentary procedure that resulted in the Honourable MP for Chimanimani being sentenced to a year in prison with labour. In addition, Justice Hungwe has still not passed judgement in the case brought before him in November of last year applying for Bennett's release pending the outcome of the Review application.
Furthermore, the legal team has also prepared a Supreme Court challenge on the grounds that Bennett was denied a fair trial as guaranteed by Zimbabwe's constitution. No date has been given by the court to hear this case despite its obvious urgency.
While the courts' decisions are to be respected, questions must be asked about the numerous judicial delays related to this case that have so far failed to result in a single judgement. Roy Bennett has now been in prison for almost three months. This is an obvious example of justice delayed is justice denied.
Roy and the family would like to thank everyone who has sent letters and cards to him as he has received so much mail and it is very uplifting for him. Roy asked Heather to reply to each one, but because of the volume, she is not able to.
Friends of Roy Bennett
posted at 9:01 pm
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