Mass protester trials put spotlight on Zimbabwe's judiciary

The crisis has seen suspects hauled into court by the truckload, then denied bail and immediately put on trial in many cases -- some before they are given access to lawyers.

They are facing a slew of charges, from disorderly conduct, looting and arson to outright subversion. 

Speaking to AFP as he waited for his latest batch of clients to be brought into court, lawyer Paidamoyo Saurombe said: "You get here at court, you do not have any court papers and suddenly you are being told that we are going to conduct the trial today,  immediately."

"Cases are being fast-tracked. "

The southern African country has been rocked by deadly violence after the government more than doubled fuel prices as part of a hard-hitting reform plan. 

A brutal crackdown on the protests by security forces shattered President Emmerson Mnangagwa's claims to have turned a fresh page after the violently repressive era of Robert Mugabe.

More than 1,100 people have been arrested countrywide, according to police.

Lawyers warn that judiciary procedures have been fragrantly violated, cases are being unlawfully fast-tracked, charges are being changed abruptly and people are being denied bail across the board regardless of circumstances.

Human rights lawyers say this is a nationwide trend that appears to be orchestrated.

Except for minors, suspects are systematically being denied bail irrespective of the severity of the charges or whether they are a flight risk, according to lawyers.

All 11 of Saurombe's clients have been denied bail. 

"That is quite worrisome because there seems to be a blanket approach to the applications," he said.

'The same hymnbook'

"One would think the judiciary is the last line of defence in any democracy, but our experiences over the past few days are indicating otherwise," said Saurombe, who works with the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to assist suspects.

Internationally acclaimed rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa described how one lawyer from her firm watched his client being persuaded to enter a plea, without being shown court papers and before accessing legal advice.  

"There is no question that there has been coordination," she said, adding that suspects' rights to fair hearings have been maliciously violated.

"What is the point in having a new constitution if the rights will just be suspended without a state of emergency and they ride roughshod on the people?"

The judiciary became noticeably more independent during the final years of Mugabe's iron-fisted rule after the country voted in a new constitution in 2013.

Mtetwa alleged that "a certain closed group of magistrates" were handling the cases.

"So there can be no question that someone is manipulating the system... that somebody, somewhere is trying to subvert the rule of law," she told AFP.

Alec Muchadehama, who represents detained union leader Japhet Moyo and a dozen other defendants, echoed her.

"What is disturbing is that there appears to be connivance among the police, the prosecution and the courts that are dealing with these matters... as if they are singing from the same hymnbook," he told AFP.

Muchadehama said some lawyers are representing up to 60 defendants, and "given either no time or a few minutes to prepare. That to me is improper."

'Suppressing dissent'

"The courts do not seem to be acting independently... and are allowing the judicial process to be subverted as a means of suppressing dissent," said Derek Matyszak, a researcher with the Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies.

President Mnangagwa on Wednesday installed a new prosecutor general, Kumbirai Hodzi, who after his inauguration told reporters that prosecutors and government leaders had things "under control".

While the justice ministry could not be reached for comment, presidential spokesman George Charamba told reporters in Harare earlier this week: "We will not have the mayhem that we saw last week -- never again. If you decide to dabble on the wrong side of the law... the law comes back to hit you."