JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE 15 ____________________________________________________________________ he was not arrested, yet former Justice Blackie was arrested and detained on an unsubstantiated and seemingly unreasonable suspicion of having committed an offence. In the event that there was an irregularity in the manner in which a judgment was handed down by Justice Blackie, or a suspicion of his having attempted to defeat the course of justice, it is the constitutional duty of the police to fully investigate and obtain tangible evidence in this regard prior to arresting and detaining him. We are, and Zimbabweans must be, extremely concerned with the growing incidents in which individuals seemingly critical of the government are arrested, usually on a Thursday or Friday, and detained over the weekend without proof of commission of an offence, only to be released without charge after detention in deplorable conditions in various police holding cells around the country. Justice Blackie’s continued detention and the denial of food, warm clothing and essential medication (something which happens with frightening regularity to individuals detained on suspicion of committing an offence) contravene the constitutionallyprotected right of an accused person to be presumed innocent until proven guilty (section 18(3)(a)) and the right not to be subjected to inhuman and degrading conditions (section 15(1)). We are alarmed, albeit not surprised, by reports from the former judge’s legal practitioners that his whereabouts were not revealed to them and that a court order had to be sought for his safe production on Saturday morning. This calls to mind the recent removal of the President and Secretary of the Law Society of Zimbabwe 15, and of Dr Frances Lovemore, 16 from the confines of Harare Central police station to various other police stations and the denial of information as to their whereabouts in an effort to deny them lawful access to their lawyers as well as protection by the courts. The police force continues to act outside the confines of the law without impunity. Constitutional safeguards are recklessly ignored. The government is not acting to protect its citizens. The courts are not demanding explanations for such unconstitutional behaviour. This provides proof positive that the rule of law has broken down irretrievably in Zimbabwe.” Attacks on magistrates Magistrates and prosecutors are part of the public service and thus particularly vulnerable to pressure, especially in smaller towns where they have no State