Categories: Stories

Britain mum on Ex-CIO

A British peer yesterday refused to disclose who had allowed a former Central Intelligence Officer to stay in the United Kingdom despite his admission that he had tortured and kidnapped people while working for the government in Zimbabwe.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach told the House of Lords yesterday that the Home Office did not routinely comment on individual cases for reasons of confidentiality.

He had been asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass who was accountable for the decision regarding Philip Machemedze’s residential status in the UK.

Machemedze made headlines two years ago when he was accused of fraudulently earning £151 000 after lying about his immigration status and obtaining two jobs.

Machemedze also successfully applied for asylum to the UK allowing him and his wife to permanently stay in the country.

During his immigration hearing, he admitted committing several human rights violations including breaking one victim’s jaw with a pair of pliers and shocking another with electric cables while working for the State in Zimbabwe.

He walked free from the court after being sentenced to nine months in jail suspended for two years.

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Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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