THE arrest of MDC Alliance lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu on allegations of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, so soon in the wake of the abduction and torture of party officials Cecilia Chimbiri, Joanah Mamombe and Netsai Marova appears like another case of abuse of State apparatus to settle political scores with an opponent.
We do not know the merits of the State case against Mpofu, but the guerrilla tactics used by the police show a regime bent on cowing its subjects into submission.
But of course, Mpofu is the lawyer who represents Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the MDC Alliance and the man who has made Mnangagwa’s presidency a nightmare.
One is even tempted to believe that this matter will come to naught, the fate of many other previous cases in which outspoken lawyers whose cases involved politics suffered a similar fate.
We are well aware of the Machiavellian tactics of the law enforcement agents and other State institutions which have everything to fear from lawyers who represent their clients without fear or favour and insist on full compliance with the law and constitutional safeguards.
