Coltart Arrested

Veteran politician, lawyer, and CCC member David Coltart's son Douglas Coltart a top human rights lawyer was arrested in Harare yesterday.

The human rights lawyer, Coltart is facing fraud charges police have yet to clarify. He was picked up at the Harare Magistrates’ Court Friday afternoon as he stepped out of the court building. He had gone to represent his client, Hopewell Chin’ono, a government critic facing charges of defeating the course of justice.

This relates to a social media post by Chin’ono relating to the arrest of Zimbabwe Miners Federation president Henrietta Rushwaya over allegations of gold smuggling.

Coltart’s lawyer Chris Mhike confirmed the arrest.

“Yes, he has been arrested and is being charged with fraud. It is not yet clear where and how the charges against him (Coltart) arose, and we expect to have finer details tomorrow.”

Coltart spent the entire day at Harare Central Police station but was been released into the custody of his lawyers awaiting a court appearance Saturday. Mhike said the police who informed him about ZRP’s interests in interviewing Coltart mentioned “something about extortion”.

Mhike is representing Coltart together with Beatrice Mtetwa and David Drury.