HARARE - High Court Judge November Muchiya has slammed the State team for lacking autonomy in the ongoing bail hearing of an ex-Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operative accused of leaking government secrets.

Justice Muchiya said this yesterday during the bail hearing of ex-CIO operative Obediah Dodo who is jointly charged with a police officer Collen Musorowegomo.

The State alleges the two leaked State secrets to an American think-tank, but both men deny the charge saying the documents were academic research papers. Dodo is employed by the Bindura University as a lecturer and the cop is a student.

The bail application for the two was supposed to proceed yesterday but prosecutor Edmore Makoto said he wanted to get instructions on the case, prompting Justice Muchiya to grill him why he did not have a mandate to make decisions himself as a State representative. The bail hearing was deferred to today. The duo’s lawyer, Alec Muchadehama told the court that the bail hearing was delayed by an “uncooperative” Bindura magistrate who failed to provide the transcript.

Muchadehama said they had to approach the office of the chief magistrate for the record of proceedings to be released. Dodo and Musorowegomo have been jointly charged with publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State as defined in Section 31(a)(i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.

Dodo, who retired from the spy agency in 2008 to take up a job as lecturer at Bindura University, is accused of sending damning documents to the American Internal Journal of Contemporary Research.

The CIO operative and cop allegedly authored a document titled Political Intolerance, Diversity and Democracy: Youth Violence in Bindura urban Zimbabwe.

The two however, say the paper was an academic research document and had nothing to do with spying. The document accuses State security institutions, including the CIO and army, of playing a role in youth violence from 1999 to 2011.

“Accused falsely stated that according to ZRP most of the criminal cases (assault, arson, rape and kidnapping) went unreported as victims feared more reprisals and the fact that during the (2008 election) period, the police force had been disempowered technically as they could not handle any case to do with politics,” reads part of the State outline. - Tendai Kamhungira