JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE 132 ____________________________________________________________________ courts, pronouncing on the validity or lack of it of any court ruling. This is nothing short of judicial chaos meant to cause alarm and despondency among Zimbabweans. And yet the rules are clear for all. Chinamasa should have been in jail the moment his sentence was passed. Even if he appealed against the sentence or sought bail, he would have had to do this behind bars, just like any other prisoner. … This negates the rule of law and has serious implications on the public’s confidence in Zimbabwe’s justice delivery system. But as pointed out earlier, we now have more government officials, apart from Chinamasa, seemingly queuing up to be hauled before the courts for possibly similar or even more serious contempt of court charges following their outbursts against the ruling on Chinamasa. The statements by Moyo and Mangota, at least on the surface, appear to be actionable but that determination must be left to the lawful courts of the land. What infuriates all right-thinking Zimbabweans is the fact that some within the land, just because of their station in life, want to be more equal than others before the law … This is unacceptable and does indeed reinforce the often-stated fact that the rule of law sadly remains suspended in Zimbabwe.” APPENDIX 4: FAILURE BY THE POLICE TO TAKE ACTION There is a whole succession of cases in which the police have failed to investigate crimes committed against persons perceived to be hostile to the government. The following are some examples of the worst of these cases: Murders In the case described earlier no one has been arrested or tried in connection with the case in which in April 2000 a CIO operative and another allegedly brutally murdered two MDC party workers, Mr Chiminya and Ms Mabika, by petrol-bombing their