Tendai Biti, the former minister of finance, was found guilty in 2020 of verbally abusing Tatiana Aleshina, an investor and Russian national.
Following a thorough trial, Biti—an opposition politician and attorney by trade—was found guilty.
Biti refuted the claims, claiming that the charges against him did not constitute a crime, according to ZiMetro News.
Following an exchange of words between Biti and Aleshina at the Harare Magistrates Court, Biti was prosecuted.
Aleshina claimed that Biti had attacked her just as she was ready to leave the court gallery following the hearing in which she had testified as a witness in several criminal cases. Aleshina complained and stated:
Mr. Biti’s uninvited verbal abuse and assaults on me and my colleague at Pokugara Properties (Private) Limited during the course of handling these cases before the Harare Magistrates’ Court constitute egregious professional misconduct.
Everyone in the court gallery could see that Mr. Biti enjoyed verbally abusing me as well as intimidating me. He believed that because I am a woman and a foreigner with Russian ancestry, I am nothing to him and that he will use all extralegal means to destroy or crush my courage to testify against his client in a criminal case.
In addition, I firmly believe that Mr. Biti humiliated me and violated my rights as a woman by using profanity and shouting at me in an attempt to assert his manhood over me. He clearly committed a verbal attack when he pointed at my face.
Judge Vongai Muchuchuti of Harare declared that Biti could not be found guilty despite calling other individuals “idiots.” Says she:
The fact that she went to get her prescription is still crucial. She refused to be admitted, although she was prescribed some medication.
There is no question that on the relevant day, the complainant and the accused got into a verbal confrontation during which the accused called the complainant a dumbshit.
With the exception of the doctor, every witness has attested to the incident’s occurrence.
The fact that the accused pointed a finger at the complainant is the one piece of evidence that jumps out the most.
The State has been able to demonstrate that the accused actually spoke the things he claimed to have said.
The court has no reason to mistrust the testimony of any of the witnesses because they are all reliable witnesses.
It is not possible to conclude that any state witness’ testimony is useless, as the accused has claimed.
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These factors lead me to conclude that the accused is guilty.
Biti’s sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday at 10:00 AM. The possible penalties include a fine, a term of up to ten years, or both.
Alec Muchadehama, his attorney, stated that they want to appeal his conviction.
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