Elderly woman beaten and detained by police as farm attacks continue

By Alex Bell
The elderly mother of a commercial farmer has become the latest victim of violent attack, as the countrywide offensive to remove the remaining farmers off their land continues unabated.

Chinhoyi farmer, Murray Pott's 80-year-old mother, was severely assaulted by police officials on Monday when they arrested her son for being on his land 'illegally'. Justice for Agriculture's (JAG) John Worsley-Worswick explained on Tuesday that police are repeatedly breaking protocol for bringing farmers before the courts, saying the exercise "simply requires a phone call and a request to present yourself to court." Worsley-Worswick said this latest attack is "clear police brutality and harassment," and part of ongoing efforts to scupper the unity government. There was still no word on Tuesday what condition Pott's mother was in, or whether police had released her to seek medical attention.

The attack comes just days after a Banket farmer was beaten on his farm last Friday, by the son of a top political official set on taking over the farm. Patrick Stooks received serious facial injuries after being repeatedly punched and then hit in the face with the butt of a shotgun. The official, Philip Chamboko, who holds a political role at the Zimbabwean embassy in Tokyo, has been trying since last year to remove the Stooks from their land.

Patrick and his wife Sue, were both locked up for three days in deplorable conditions last year, on trumped-up charges relating to the invasion of their land. The case was eventually thrown out of court as the prosecution witnesses admitted that the police had forced their statements out of them. Chamboko's son, Gideon and his hired thugs, continued to live on the farm but last Monday a High Court ordered the illegal occupation of the land to cease. On Friday Patrick came under violent attack after he confronted Chamboko, whose thugs vandalised Patrick's farm equipment. The attack was in full view of the Deputy Sheriff of the High Court who was there to serve the order papers on Chamboko and his men, but unsurprisingly, the police have taken no further action.

The ongoing invasions of Zimbabwe's remaining commercial farms have been fully supported by police officials, acting on the direct orders of the Attorney General, Johannes Tomana. Police have repeatedly been involved in attacks against both farmers and their staff, while at the same time, police officials have refused to carry out the many court rulings ordering land invaders off stolen land. Instead, police have actively ignored the flimsy legal protection held by the country's remaining commercial farmers, hauling them before court for 'fast-track' prosecution.

JAG's Worsley-Worswick explained on Tuesday that the recent actions by a Supreme Court Judge have "paved the way for fast track litigation to go ahead." Earlier this month, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku heard the case of a commercial farmer, protected by last year's SADC Tribunal ruling, which was meant to guard against future land invasions. Worsley-Worswick explained that the Chief Justice "systematically destroyed any argument raised by the farmer in the case," and he expressed fears that it is the start of a major legal offensive against the farmers.

Meanwhile as the farming community remains under siege, thousands of farm workers have been left jobless and penniless in a country already plagued by 94% unemployment. Their plight is being completely overlooked by the unity government, which has done nothing to stop the land invasions continuing.