A policeman stopped the centre vehicle along the Hwange-Bulawayo road and asked the driver to park by the roadside. LRF staff were apprehensive as to why they had been stopped. He came over and said: “I wish to thank LRF for the assistance I got when I was falsely charged of rape. The lawyer helped me through the full trial at regional court. And the court found me not guilty. I was innocent of the charges levelled against me. I was angry and devastated. Since my acquittal I have been able to move forward with my life. Last year when I turned 18 I trained as a policeman and qualified. Now I can look after myself. May the LRF continue to assist the poor and marginalised. If I had not been legally represented I would have been convicted wrongly. Thank you so much. That is the reason I asked you to park by the roadside. I recognized the lawyer who represented me. If I had been convicted I would be languishing in prison and my whole life doomed.” Case Highlights Abuse of authority • Our client approached our offices after he had attended an outreach on peace building and human rights and described how he was being subjected to harassment by the village head and four others. The five would disturb our client’s farming operations and assault him when he tried to stand up to them. They boasted that the client could not do anything about it as the chief in the area was their relation. The LRF assisted him to lodge an application for a peace order which was duly granted. The case highlights the importance of our legal education programme in raising awareness among the general populace about asserting their rights. The case also brings to the fore how those in leadership positions abuse the authority vested in them by harassing members of the community, who may lack means of seeking legal redress. • In a case emanating from Nyanga, a man approached the LRF for assistance on how to handle a case of harassment and extortion after he was summoned to answer charges before a self-styled headman. The plaintiff alleged that our client’s cattle had strayed into his field and was claiming damages for his crop. The headman summoned our client to answer the allegation and demanded that he bring court fees amounting to $40. Our client was aware that the so-called headman did not have authority to preside over the case. Fearing victimisation, he approached the LRF and was advised not to attend the court. A letter was written to the police laying charges of extortion and impersonation against the headman as he was purporting to be a presiding officer of a local court and collecting court fees when he did not have the authority to do so. The headman was arrested on fraud and stock theft charges. It was discovered that he was forging court judgments and executing against them without the chief’s knowledge or authority. The case is still pending at court and the accused is out on bail. • Our client was married in terms of an unregistered customary law marriage. The husband left her 14 years ago, following his marriage to another woman. He established a new home in a resettlement area and took most of the property accumulated in the first marriage to the new home. Our client started from scratch and struggled to acquire farm livestock. She was shocked when her former husband came accompanied by the Messenger of Court, who attached her livestock after a default judgment had been given against her husband. During the proceedings the husband’s address had been cited as that of our client. We assisted her to institute interpleader summons successfully. This matter shows how the client’s right to property could have been infringed if we had not intervened, and the abuse of power by the Messenger of Court who went on to execute a judgment at a place which was not cited as the defendant’s address. Gender-based violence • Our client was a nurse aid at a local health centre. Her husband had subjected her to domestic violence over a number of years but she had never had the courage to go to the police. After attending a one-day community workshop, she approached the LRF for assistance with an application for a protection order which was subsequently granted. The client had been subjected to abuse for a long time but it took a one-day workshop to make her realise that she could get protection through the courts. 20