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GALZ have welcomed the acquittal of one of their employee Ignatius Mhambi, on the charge of allegedly being in possession of “pornographic material” this just days, after Zimbabwe’s first Lady Grace Mugabe coined homosexuality as “taboo and satanic”.
Chesterfield Samba, Director of GALZ said “the Judge on her finding said Magistrate Mupindu who presided over the matter said that there was no prima facie evidence to prove the essential element of the case which, are possession of the pornographic material in question.”
“I feel relieved and elated, Thank God. Today I will have a good night sleep in peace”, said Ignatious Mhambi, after his release.
Mhambi, 38 together with Ellen Chadehama, 34, both employees of GALZ were arrested as police raided their offices, charging them of allegedly keeping pornographic material and on a charge of posting, in their offices, a letter from former San Francisco Mayor Willie Lewis Brown criticizing Robert Mugabe’s opposition to homosexuality, which will be heard today.
GALZ was accused of contravening Section 157 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 and Section 32 (1) of the Censorship and Entertainment Control Act Chapter 10:04. The raid came at a time when Zimbabwe is finalizing the new constitution and both Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai have already declared that homosexuality will not be tolerated in the new constitution and the latest homophobic hurls made by the first lady, Grace Mugabe, making the future of LGBTI people in Zimbabwe seem bleak.
While LGBT people in Zimbabwe are diligent, ensuring their safety GALZ is working closely with the lawyers in charge of the case and has acknowledged support received from international organizations. “The LGBTI community is one united force in fighting violations. South Africans used to have a campaign slogan ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ and this I think is the uniting factor”, the member of GALZ said. Meanwhile GALZ fears that more arrests may take place following this raid, the second one after the one that took place 15 years ago. GALZ is the only LGBT rights organisation in Zimbabwe.
For 20 year now, it has been advocating for rights of LGBT people in that country despite president Robert Mugabe’s incessant remarks against homosexuality, the most notorious one being that homosexuals are “worse than pigs.”
This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 1:56 pm and is filed under Breaking News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
