A ZIMBABWE JUDGE CONVICTED

Zimbabwe judge convicted of graft. A Zimbabwe high court judge has been convicted of corruption for trying to intervene in the case of a business partner who was charged with murder. Judge Benjamin Paradza faces up to three years in jail or a fine for asking fellow judges to release his partner's confiscated passport. Mr Paradza said he was being targeted for delivering judgements that were not in favour of the government. He was cleared of charges of attempting to obstruct the course of justice. Judge Paradza is the first judge in independent Zimbabwe to be convicted of corruption.
The High Court in Harare found that in January 2003, Judge Paradza had phoned two fellow judges and urged them to release the French passport of Russel Wayne Labuschagne, Judge Paradza's business partner. The passport was being held by the court as part of Mr Labuschagne's bail conditions in a murder case in which he was accused of killing a fisherman at his property. "The court found the accused's story that he never asked his fellow judges to release the passport to be untrue beyond reasonable doubt," High Court Judge Simpson Mutambanengwe said in his judgement.
In a telephone conversation 16 January 2003 with Judge Justice Cheda, Judge Paradza indicated that he stood to lose $60,000 if Mr Labuschagne did not attend the hunting convention, and advised Judge Cheda to use his discretion in handling the application for the release of the passport. Judge Cheda reported the conversation to the police. Mr Labuschagne was later convicted of murder and sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison.

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