Zimbabwe’s former finance minister has claimed he was kidnapped from his home in the middle of the night by armed men during the military operation to oust Robert Mugabe.![]()
Ignatius Chombo, who was charged on Saturday with corruption including an attempt to defraud the central bank in 2004, told a court that five or six people stormed his bedroom pointing guns at him, his wife and their maid.His account has fuelled speculation that the takeover by armed forces which led to the resignation of Mr Mugabe was not legal – despite a High Court judge backing it.
However, Mr Chombo and two leaders of the ruling Zanu-PF party’s youth league who said they were abducted by the military before being handed over days later to the police, described experiences which point to human rights violations.
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| Zimbabwe Ex-Minister Ignatius Chombo Claims He Was ‘Kidnapped’ Amid Operation To Oust Mugabe |
“I was in the custody of armed persons who were dressed in soldiers’ uniforms,” said Mr Chombo.
“I don’t know where I was taken to.”
He said he had been blindfolded with his own T-shirt and taken out of his home through a broken window, sustaining injuries as he fell several times while barefoot.
He said he was taken on an hour-long drive to a location where he spent days being interrogated and was told he had performed badly in his role as a government official and ruling party leader.
He said he never saw his captors’ faces because he was blindfolded most of the time.
Eventually, his captors drove him home where two police cars were parked, waiting to arrest him.
“They said, ‘you are under arrest’,” Mr Chombo said.
Defence lawyer Lovemore Madhuku said his client’s constitutional rights had been violated because he was not taken to court within 48 hours of his detention.
He said it was obvious Mr Chombo was originally taken by state agents, probably the military.
The police arrest, he said, was designed to provide legal cover for an illegal act.
State prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba said the police arrest of Mr Chombo was lawful and that there was no evidence the “armed men” who previously held him belonged to the military. Sky News
