The estranged wife of Zimbabwe's vice president was on Monday wheeled into court on a stretcher bed to help back up her lawyers' plea that she is not well enough to stand trial.
Mary Mubaiwa's husband, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, is a retired military general who masterminded the coup that brought the late Robert Mugabe's rule to a dramatic end in November 2017.
Reportedly critically ill with an unknown ailment, Mubaiwa was briefly hauled into a Harare magistrate's court where her legal team argued she was not well enough to stand trial for allegedly assaulting a domestic worker.
#UPDATE
— Zimbabwe Independent (@Zimindependent) November 30, 2020
Mary Mubaiwa carried into court on a stretcher. pic.twitter.com/E07eacfSxu
Mubaiwa, 39, whose arms bore lesions and were severely swollen, could barely raise her head, according to an AFP journalist in court.
After being transferred into a wheelchair, the former model sat quietly, attached to intravenous drips and beeping monitors.
She did not look up even once during the 20-minute hearing and the gallery was tense.
Mubaiwa, who denies all the charges, was also kicked out of her marital home after a court ruled she cannot reside under one roof with her estranged husband.
She claims the charges were fabricated and that Chiwenga, 64, brought the attempted murder charges in an attempt to force her hand in the divorce proceedings.
