Three persons sentenced to death by civilian courts since the signing of the internal settlement agreement have successfully petitioned the President for clemency, and had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment:
MUNJODZI MAZAYA (23) was sentenced to death by the Salisbury High Court on 17 March 1978 for recruiting four youths from the Selukwe TTL for guerilla training. His appeal was dismissed in June 1978.
JOHN MATTHEW MASEKO was sentenced to death by the Bulawayo High Court on 6 October 1978, on conviction of guerilla activity, armed robbery and arson. He and a co-defendant, Ambrose Ndhlovu, had allegedly been responsible for a number of guerilla attacks in the Bulawayo area, including an explosion at a computer firm.
Appeals were dismissed in January 1979 in both cases. Ambrose Ndhlovu's petition to the President was unsuccessful.
GEORGE MOYO was sentenced to death in February 1979 by the High Court on conviction of possessing arms of war, committing various acts of terrorism, and the murder of an African police reservist killed in an ambush. He was captured in the Lupane area and described as a member of ZPRA. His appeal was dismissed in March 1979.
Five out of a total of 14 death sentences imposed by civilian courts since 3 March 1978 have now been commuted at the petition stage.
