SW Radio Africa (London)

Diamond researcher and human rights activist Farai Maguwu has been slapped with fresh charges, just over two weeks after his release on bail from Harare Remand Prison.

Mutare police on Tuesday re-arrested Maguwu and charged him with possessing a stolen vehicle, an old Mercedes Benz that he was apparently using before his original arrest in June. Police indicated that Maguwu could also face alternative charges of failing to register the same car, if they can't prove it was stolen. The rights activist was released the same day into the custody of his lawyer, Tinoziva Bere, after making a statement and being charged.

Bere told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that the charges are a way of persecuting his client, explaining that the police have no evidence to suggest that car is stolen. Bere said that at one point it wasn't clear if the police would actually release Maguwu, who was interrogated for several hours. Bere expressed anger that he, as Maguwu's lawyer, was barred from the interrogation process, which he explained was "in direct contravention of the constitution and international statutes of the law."

"Farai knows the kind of malice being directed at him and he saw the humorous side of these efforts to keep persecuting him," Bere said, adding: "He is concerned though, that they won't let matters with him rest."

Maguwu still faces charges of communicating so-called 'falsehoods' deemed prejudicial to the state, in connection with the work he has done exposing the level of human rights abuses at the Chiadzwa diamond fields. He was released on bail earlier this month, more than five weeks after his original arrest. He is now living under strict bail conditions that include daily visits to the Mutare police station and a restriction on his travel to within 40km of his Mutare home.

Bere said he is not hopeful that the case will be heard in court any time soon, and said Maguwu is prepared for the likelihood of ongoing persecution in the way of more unexpected charges being laid against him.

"Farai understands that there will be no mercy from these people. He has offended them completely by his demands for transparency in the handling of the Chiadzwa situation," Bere said.

There have been widespread calls for the charges against Maguwu to be dropped, with campaign groups arguing his arrest was to deliberately silence him amid Zimbabwe's bid to sell the controversial Chiadzwa diamonds. His arrest in June coincided with a meeting of the international diamond trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process, where debate over whether to certify the diamonds for sale was high on the agenda.

Maguwu was meant to speak at that meeting but instead found himself facing maltreatment in police custody. He told SW Radio Africa after his eventual release that all his blankets were confiscated by the police, who left him to sleep on cold floors in the dead on Zimbabwe's winter time. As a result, he developed a serious throat infection and was denied medical treatment for several days. His condition worsened and he eventually had to undergo surgery on his throat.

His release meanwhile is widely believed to have been as a result of a trade-off between the government and the international diamond authorities who earlier this month met to decide Zimbabwe's trade future. An agreement between the Mines Ministry and the Kimberley Process, which will see the export of Chiadzwa stones take place under monitoring conditions, was only reached after Maguwu was released on bail.

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