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Herald Reporter

The law firm representing Ms Tatiana Aleshina of West Properties (Private) Limited has written to the Law Society of Zimbabwe complaining about CCC co-vice president Tendai Biti interfering with witnesses in a matter pending before the courts.

In a letter directed to the LSZ’s executive secretary, Scanlen & Holderness, which is representing Ms Aleshina who filed an assault case against Biti, said the politician breached section 20 of the schedule to the Legal Practitioners Code of Conduct that proscribes engaging in conduct that is likely either to diminish public confidence in the legal profession and/or the administration of justice in that it interferes with witnesses to a pending matter before the courts.

Reads the letter of complaint: “We represent Tatiana Aleshina of West Properties (Private) Limited at whose instance we write, kindly note our interest.

“Our instructions are that our client is a complainant in the above matter in which Mr Biti is charged with assault.

“The charges emanate from an incident that occurred on 30 November 2020 at Rotten Row where he perpetrated an unprovoked attack upon our client as she walked out of court where she had attended for a case involving her employer and in which he represented the accused one George Katsimberis.”

The assault charges are pending trial at Rotten Row.

Scanlen & Holderness said ahead of the last remand, a message was widely circulated on the WhatsApp platform which sought to mobilise CCC supporters to “come to court in their numbers to besiege the courts where his trial as aforementioned is set”.

“Our client has nothing to do with politics and this is against her modus as an international investor. She does not want to be involved in the country’s politics and its political arena.

“The message is intimidatory and inspires in her fear and dread. As a legal practitioner, Mr Biti is now intimidating her and making aspersions that she is involved in trying to harm him personally which she finds disturbing and unbecoming of him,” said the law firm.

It added that Ms Aleshina has instructed them to seek the LSZ’s intervention to protect her “in her pursuit of recourse against the personal conduct by Mr Biti in perpetrating an assault upon her which is the subject of the pending criminal proceedings”.