The trial of gospel musician Ivy Kombo and her husband Admir Kasi, who allegedly fraudulently obtained certificates to practice law in Zimbabwe, has been postponed at the instigation of the state after the prosecutor was refused permission to introduce an email as evidence.
The two face joint charges with the suspended executive secretary of the Council of Legal Education, Huggins Hardwork Dore, on fraud charges.
The trial was supposed to continue yesterday and today, but the state submitted a request for postponement.
Initially, the country was led by Edith Mandianiki, a business and public relations officer at Fidelity Printers where law degrees are now printed.
In her evidence in chief, Ms Mandianiki told the court she had worked for the company for the past 20 years and had only known Dore as a customer since 2022 when Fidelity took over the printing of CLE certificates.
She told the court that CLE sends out a request to print the certificates and Fidelity Printers provides a quote. CLE then deposits the funds and sends you proof of payment so you can Print certificates.
She added that the CLE, through my role, sends a list of students’ names, and after printing the certificates, they advise the CLE to come and receive them.
Subsequently, the State Prosecutor, Mr Anisu Shiringi, wanted to adduce evidence of an email supposedly containing a list of names of students from CLE which the defense counsel for the accused opposed on the grounds that they had not received the email before the commencement of the trial.
After several submissions from both the State and defense counsel, the Chief Magistrate, Ms Veresi Chakanyuka, ordered that the document should not be produced and that the trial should therefore proceed.
“The objection is sustained… It is prejudicial to the defense to extract evidence from email without providing it to them. “So it must continue,” she added.
There was a short adjournment and Mr. Shiringi sought an adjournment in light of the judgment passed by the court.
“Your worship we request postponement with regard to Section 165 in light of the judgment passed by the court. The ruling marked a defining moment in the state’s case. We want to explore options. We want to copy the log and go ahead on the 19th. We believe that the issues raised have a significant impact on the state’s case and allow ample time to review the record of proceedings.
“The executive assistant is writing a letter to the clerk of court to expedite the process. The postponement is necessary and in the interest of justice,” he said.
The three defense lawyers for Mr Admire Rubaya, Mr Everson Chatambudza and Mr Oliver Marwa strongly opposed the application which they described as frivolous, vexatious and unconstitutional.
They argued that the state had not provided sufficient reasons to justify the postponement because it had not told the court what it wanted to do with the record, stating that a postponement would not be fair to the persons charged.
After listening to the submissions of both parties, Ms. Chakanyuka granted the adjournment request.
The matter returns on February 19 to continue the trial. Announce