News Day
By Nduduzo Tshuma
26 February 2013
MDC secretary for legal affairs David Coltart has commended Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s weekend calls for an end to political violence and selective application of the law.
Mujuru was speaking at the burial of Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, John Mayowe, at the National Heroes Acre in Harare on Saturday.
Mayowe died in South Africa last week after a battle with cancer.
Coltart, who is also Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister, said there was need for the country to deal with all forms of violence.
“Whilst I am thankful for Zimbabwean Vice-President Mujuru’s call yesterday for a violence-free referendum and election, we must recognise that violence comes in many forms, not simply in the narrow physical definition of the word,†the minister wrote on his Facebook wall.
“Violence is not just the physical act.When law is used selectively as a weapon to imprison civic leaders, that also constitutes violence. The mere threat of violence can be just as chilling as the physical act. The unlawful detention of a person is a mental threat of violence.â€