HARARE - High Court judge Chinembiri Bhunu yesterday ordered the state to produce documents required by the defence in the epic fraud trial of Core Mining director Lovemore Kurotwi and former Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation boss Dominic Mubaiwa.

Bhunu in his ruling said a criminal trial is “not a game of hide and seek” ordering the state to avail the required evidence for public interest.

“A criminal trial is not an issue of hide and seek, it is set to get the truth and both parties should disclose information. The purpose of a criminal trial is not to get a conviction but to make sure that proof is availed, the state is ordered to avail documents that the defence requires,” said Bhunu.

Defence lawyers Beatrice Mtetwa and Advocate Lewis Uriri have insisted that they require a resolution by the now disbanded Canadile Miners board authorising Grant Thornton to produce a financial report for the company.

They also need a copy of the CR14 form that sets out the directors of Canadile amid conflicting information on the report by Grant Thornton that Mubaiwa was one of the directors of Canadile.

The lawyers also want to be furnished with monthly diamond statistics and sales statistics for the diamonds in a bid to disprove the actual prejudice of $2 billion alleged by the state.

Source documents that were used in the compilation of the report are also on the list of the required papers.

Diamond valuation reports, board resolution for the dividends, bank statements, mini-book entries and records of all mined diamonds are also part of the documents required by the defence.