Fortunately, the children who were arrested and charged with public violence in Harare, Chitungwiza and Bulawayo were legally represented by Justice for Children, Legal Resources Foundation and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. It is however critical to note that these lawyers were not engaged by the prosecution or the courts to offer legal representation, as often happens, but rather they had conducted monitoring visits at police stations and prisons where children who needed legal representation were identified. Had it not been for these NGO legal aid organisations, the children would have appeared in court without legal representation. No cases were recorded where legal practitioners were denied an opportunity to legally represent children in courts. 4.5 Release Without Bail In terms of section 135 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act [Chapter 9:07], when a child is accused of an offence other than treason, murder or rape, a judge, magistrate or police officer has the power to release the child without bail into the custody of the parent or guardian or into a place of safety. Almost all children were released into the custody of their guardians and parents on initial appearance in the Magistrates Courts. The gross exception was one 16-year-old child who appeared before the Magistrates Court at Rotten Row in Harare among a group of 10 accused persons arrested in Mabvuku. The group had already spent 48 hours in police custody at Mabvuku Police Station, and on initial appearance in court on 16 January 2019, bail was denied for the entire group – including the child. Making it worse, the group was remanded in custody at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, as opposed to Harare remand Prison. The child was only released on free bail into the custody of his mother on the 25th of January 2019. In Bulawayo, 14 children were remanded at Khami Prison, but that was because no proof of their age had been produced in court on initial appearance. The minors were subsequently released once their birth certificates were produced. 4.6 Separation of Trials There were instances where children were jointly charged with adults, the lowest number being three recorded in Mbare Magistrates Court in Harare and the highest being 9 children recorded at Tredgold Magistrates Court ion Bulawayo. Generally, separation of trials was granted in cases in which applications were made, where children were jointly charged with adults. The State however vigorously opposed some of these applications by lawyers. In one case at Rotten Row in Harare, the State opposed the separation of trial application, but relented after a while and openly asked the court for a chance to make “consultations”. The court shied away from making a ruling. Consultations were then done – clearly with the prosecutor’s superiors during adjournment – and the prosecutor returned to court with an instruction that the child be released. Only then was the child released. 4.7 Irregularities in the Courts In quite an unprecedented fashion, due process was truncated en masse in the courts. What began to emerge clear was that these were not isolated incidences of courts and prosecutors butchering and mutilating legal process out of recognition; rather, this was systematic and consistent throughout courts trying public violence cases across the country. Irregularities that were experienced in the courts include the following: Rushed Trials and Proceedings Prosecutors and Magistrates insisted that trials commence on initial appearance, before the children and their lawyers had time to prepare their defences. Initial appearances are ordinarily reserved for bail and remand proceedings. It is highly irregular for a matter to proceed to trial on the date of initial appearance, let alone without the defence counsel having been given access to the state papers and having been accorded the opportunity to prepare the defence. On 23 January 2019, for instance, lawyers representing 3 children aged 16 and 17 who were facing charges of public violence attended to the children’s initial appearance at the Mbare Magistrates Court. The children were placed in 24 ‘Hear them Cry ’ – An Analysis of State Violence Against Children During the January 2019 Protests