BBC presenter slapped with fresh charges
Petroc Trelawny was on Wednesday evening [30 May 2012] charged with contravening the Zimbabwean Immigration Act, allegedly by violating the conditions under which his visitor's entry certificate had been issued. The pressing of fresh charges comes two days after the attorney general's office declined to authorise his prosecution.
It was hoped that Trelawny would already have returned home after the original case against him was dismissed. He was arrested last week Thursday after compering at a charity concert in Bulawayo.
He was accused of working without a permit and held in prison over the weekend for contravening Zimbabwean immigration laws. But the case was dismissed and Trelawny was expected to leave Zimbabwe on Tuesday.
However, immigration authorities stalled on releasing his passport, amid concern that a fresh charges would be laid against him.
Kumbirai Mafunda from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) group, which is representing Trelawny in Bulawayo, had told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday afternoon that this was likely to happen.
"Despite the order for his release, he and his lawyers have been told by the immigration department authorities that they were considering fresh charges against him....they want him to be taken to court on Thursday," Mafunda explained.
Mafunda added that Trelawny has been granted a temporary permit, after his visa ran out on Monday. This permit will allow him to remain to hear the fresh charges, when he appears in court Thursday.
Trelawny was until Wednesday being held under police guard at a hospital in Bulawayo, after falling and injuring his arm while in prison. Mafunda explained on Wednesday that it was not yet clear if he would return to hospital under detention or if he would be detained at the immigration offices.
Source: allAfrica.com
