HARARE - A High Court judge has freed on $100 bail Sydney Chirombe, a councillor in Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC, who is facing sodomy charges.
Justice Esther Muremba condemned the decision by the lower courts to deny Chirombe bail.
“The magistrate failed to apply his mind in deciding if the offence was a serious one, wherein it actually has a maximum prison sentence of one year and an option of a fine,” Muremba said.
“Furthermore, the magistrate’s reasoning as regards the propensity to commit further offences was rather illogical taking into account that the appellant has no previous convictions.”
As part of bail conditions, Chirombe was ordered to reside at his given address and report once a week at Glen Norah Police Station.
Chirombe, 49, is jointly charged with Joseph Muchena, 23, whose appeal is currently being processed by lawyers from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
He was denied bail by Harare magistrate Milton Serima who raised fears that the accused would re-offend.
Serima further ruled that the offence was a serious one which had been condemned by the highest office in the land.
In his initial bail application, Chirombe’s lawyer Shadreck Chisoko, argued that the State made reference to a Kariba case no. 50/02/14 in which Chirombe faced a similar charge in order to misdirect the court into thinking that his client had a pending sodomy case.
“My client is not a serial offender,” Chisoko said. “The Kariba case which state counsel made reference to is dead and buried and the state is fully aware that he was acquitted.
“State has failed to challenge that he has never been convicted of any crime, is of fixed abode and a family man. The state is making its application based on unsubstantiated facts.”
Chisoko argued that the State could not prove that accused person was caught during the act because the medical affidavit confirmed that there was no penetration, which he said was necessary to prove an act of sodomy.
Allegations against the two arose on May 13 around 2am when Chirombe and Muchena were reportedly caught engaging in anal sex by Glen Norah police officers who were on patrol.
When the two realised they had been caught, Chirombe, whose pants were reportedly down, jumped from the passenger seat and tried to start the vehicle.