Minister, Police Face Lawsuit Over Man Shot During Protest

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has notified Home Affairs minister Cain Mathema that it intends to sue for compensation over a Chitungwiza man who was shot dead during the January fuel price hike protests.

ZLHR wrote a letter to Mathema which was also copied to the officer in charge Chitungwiza Police Station, Commissioner-General of police Godwin Matanga, Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi and Health and Child Care minister Obadiah Moyo among other offices. In the letter, ZLHR which are representing Kelvin Choto’s father Julius say that their client has been denied access to a postmortem report of his son who was shot on January 14, 2019. Part of the letter reads:

Our clients have informed us as follows: on January 14, 2019, Kelvin Choto was killed by a police officer during protests taking place outside Chitungwiza Police Station. He was shot in the head by police in the main road about 20 metres from the police station, outside the police fence. Sadly, he died on the spot. On January 15, 2019, … Choto’s father, Julius…, went to Chitungwiza Police Station and reported his son missing.  He was referred to Chitungwiza General Hospital, where he identified his son’s body in the mortuary.

ZLHR said Julius Choto was informed by the member-in-charge that the post-mortem report was not for his consumption and that only the commissioner-general of police would release the report but the family has not yet been supplied with the document.

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