JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE 32 ____________________________________________________________________ Nkala.53 Seven of the suspects were granted bail by the High Court, and the State appeal against their release on bail was rejected by the Supreme Court. The two who remained in custody, Khetani Sibanda and Sazini Mpofu, were then granted bail by the High Court and once again, on 21 June 2002, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal against the High Court order for their release. Chief Justice Chidyausiku held that the two should not be treated differently from their co-accused who were already out on bail. The Chief Justice immediately issued warrants of liberation in favour of the two, who had been in custody for six months. For two weeks senior prison officers at Khami Prison in Bulawayo, where the two accused were being held, refused to comply with these court orders. Two MDC officials who went with the copies of the Supreme Court order said they were searched and had their identity particulars copied down at two roadblocks. One of them said: “We waited the whole day after handing over the court papers to the prison officials for the release of Khethani and Sazini. Later on we saw two police vehicles coming out of the prison with Sazini inside one of them.” The lawyer for the two, Nicholas Mathonsi, said several attempts to have the accused freed had met with resistance, with the officer-in-charge of Khami Prison, Inspector Nyamukonda, refusing to co-operate. The lawyer said “Since last Friday, we have been going to Khami Prison to try to get the boys out as per court ruling but officials at Khami Prison have flatly refused to abide by Chidyausiku’s command. The lawyers said that the action on the part of the prison officers was “clearly a defiance of the Chief Justice.” He went on to say: “Where clear court orders are not being followed by very junior members of the government, such as prison officers, this shows a serious decay in the legal system.” Joyce Mabida, in charge of prisons in Matabeleland, and Inspector Michael Nyamukondiwa, the officer-in-charge at Khami Prison, were then charged with contempt of court in the High Court in Bulawayo. The prison officers confirmed they had received the court orders and warrants of liberation, and admitted that they had defied the court orders. They said they had done