Harare - Zimbabwe's Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the government cannot prosecution a leading human rights activist accused of plotting against the government of Robert Mugabe on the grounds that her abduction and torture in custody had violated her rights. In February, Jestina Mukoko, the leader of Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) group, challenged the case against her in the Supreme Court, saying state security agents had abducted her from her home during a dawn raid in December 2008 and tortured her at secret locations for three weeks.
"The state, through its agents, violated the applicant's constitutional rights to the extent of entitling the applicant (Mukoko) a permanent stay of criminal prosecution," Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku said.
His ruling has a direct impact on other human rights and opposition activists who were charged alongside Mukoko and have also claimed they were tortured in detention in applications to the Supreme Court.
Mukoko broke into tears, saying she was "a free person again," as journalists, friends and relatives mobbed her when she left the packed Harare courtroom.
"I am so overwhelmed. I want to thank all my colleagues, in the region and internationally because they believed in me. Justice has just prevailed," she said.
"I did not have to go through what I went through. For a while I have been someone who was not free. I really going to enjoy this with my family. It did not make sense. I have never in my life done anything wrong, and for me to be referred to as a common criminal ... ah ...," she said.
State Prosecutor Fatima Maxwell declined to comment.
Mukoko's lawyer Harrison Nkomo praised the ruling. "I should congratulate the Supreme Court for capturing the law quiet clearly. She had not committed any offence."
Mukoko and dozens of activists - most of them supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were detained in late 2008 on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government.
At the time, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now Zimbabwe's prime minister, warned he would not enter into a unity government with Mugabe unless the activists were released.
