HARARE – Nine Chinese nationals arrested for cocaine possession in Harare walked free on Friday after being fined just US$150 each, a sentence that has triggered outrage over the judiciary’s soft approach to drug offences.
Magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe convicted the group but ruled that the quantities of cocaine recovered were “insignificant,” saying a harsher penalty was not justified. The alternative punishment was six months in prison.
Those convicted are Yu Hefeng, Dong Yunmei, Yang Wanwan, Wu Yuejun, Yang Qin, Fang Yue, Sun Jie, Yao Wenming and Li Zhongju.
Police raided a Newlands property on September 1 following a tip-off about rampant drug use. Inside, police found the Chinese nationals split between two lounges, sniffing cocaine off a wooden tray with a golden playing card.
Investigators also recovered crystal meth, benzodiazepam and sachets of cocaine worth more than US$1,000.
While most of the group were released on bail last week, alleged ringleader Huang Zhen was denied bail and remains in custody.
The outcome has raised eyebrows in Zimbabwe, where drug abuse is surging and authorities have vowed to crack down on international cartels.
The ruling contrasts sharply with a recent case before the High Court, where Justice Esther Muremba blasted a Harare magistrate for giving a suspended sentence and community service to Christine Chambati, a 39-year-old mother of four, caught with nearly a kilogram of cannabis.
Chambati had been arrested with 962.6g of dagga worth just US$96.20. Muremba ruled that the lower court had “fallen short of real and substantial justice,” noting that the Sentencing Guidelines prescribe a minimum three-year prison term for large drug quantities.
She further criticised the view that 962g was a “small amount,” ruling instead that any quantity above 700g warrants imprisonment.
The sharp disparity in sentencing between a local woman and foreign nationals has fuelled public anger, with critics accusing courts of inconsistency and leniency towards well-connected foreigners. – ZimLive
