The three political detainees still in custody will spend some more days not knowing their fate, after High Court Justice November Mtshiya deferred a ruling on their matter to Monday. Furthermore, the ruling is not going to be on whether or not the accused persons are entitled to bail, but merely on whether or not they should be heard.

The defence team representing journalist Shadreck Manyere, plus MDC officials Chris Dhlamini and Gandhi Mudzingwa, had filed an urgent bail application in the High Court after 13 other persons accused with them had been released on Wednesday. But on Friday the State opposed the hearing of the three persons bail application, saying there was already a pending issue in the Supreme Court.

Lawyer Alex Muchadehama said a pending application submitted before the Supreme Court by the State was now more of an academic argument, as it has been overtaken by events - such as the formal charging of the accused.

The group of accused persons, facing charges of plotting to overthrow the Mugabe regime, were indicted on Monday and the defence argument is that the indictment made it possible for the remaining three to apply for bail, on the grounds of changed circumstances. This means the indictment cancels all other matters that were pending before that, and gives the individuals the right to re-apply for bail.

This resulted in the judge deferring the ruling on 'this preliminary point' to Monday. Friday's deliberations did not get into the merits of the accused persons' entitlement to bail. This will only be heard depending on the judge's decision on Monday. The defence team fear that chances of the detainees remaining in custody are high, as the State can still revoke the judge's decision and appeal in the Supreme Court - if the ruling is not in their favour.

Meanwhile, the saga concerning the three detainees reached new heights on Friday when Constance Gambara, a clerk to High Court Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, was arrested for allegedly assisting defence lawyers in paying an earlier bail for the three.

On the 17th April Justice Hungwe granted Manyere, Dhlamini and Mudzingwa bail, but the state was unhappy with this and an argument between the legal teams ensued. The major issue had been over the interpretation of the 'seven day period' as the defence team argued that the State had missed the stipulated period for an appeal.

The clerk of court's alleged offence was that she took the record from her office and took it to the Registrar, who signs bail orders. Rights lawyers say this is a normal procedure.

Gambara appeared in the Magistrates Court and was charged with abusing the public office. Magistrate Catherine Chimhanda granted her bail, but as usual the State invoked a section of the notorious Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act to appeal against this.

This means the clerk will remain in custody, awaiting the State's appeal, which has to be done in seven days. Lawyer Charles Kwaramba said the unfortunate officer, who was breastfeeding her nine-month old baby while she was in the dock on Friday, has been arrested for simply doing her job.

He said: "She had nothing to do with the interpretation (of the seven day appeal). She simply read our letter and she is not even the one who signed the bail orders. She simply took the file from one place to the other place. As far as I am concerned this is pure rubbish."