Outrage at Zim law to hold suspects for a month

[dArKeR]

Opponents of President Robert Mugabe's regime were in an uproar on Sunday over new laws that allow authorities to hold suspects accused of economic crimes for up to four weeks without bail.

New regulations decreed on Friday give police the power to detain for a week people suspected of economic crimes including corruption, money laundering and illegal dealing in foreign exchange and gold, even where there is no reasonable evidence of their guilt.

The Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act) regulations also specifically disallow courts from granting suspects bail for seven days.

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=31227

I think this law was written with Cheney, Rumsfeld and AWOL in mind.

[dArKeR]

1. Mugabe 'weeding out dissidents'

Harare - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has given himself powers of detention that allow his police to hold opponents of his regime in prison for up a month without legal process on charges of "subversion," the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said on Tuesday.

The state-owned press reported at the weekend reported that sweeping presidential powers wielded by Mugabe banned judges or magistrates from giving bail to suspects, but only in cases of money-laundering, fraud and illegal foreign currency and gold trading.

However, scrutiny of the decree revealed that the law also applied to a wide range of offences under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), including "attempting to coerce" the government through boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience or "resistance to the law," said MDC secretary for legal affairs David Coltart.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,6119,2-11-259_1485287,00.html