Zimbabwe groups protest cops' $50 bail for murder

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwean youth groups are condemning the release on $50 bail for each of six policemen accused of beating a mineworker to death.

The Zimbabwe Youth Forum said Sunday that their release shows bias in courts, considering a youth leader and 28 alleged accomplices in the prime minister's party have remained in jail awaiting trial for nearly a year on allegations of murdering a policeman.

The forum said even police commanders acknowledged a breakdown of discipline led to the mineworker's death and injuries to 11 others during a theft investigation last month.

The forum described the police bail ruling Thursday as another "shocking and glaring case" of skewed rulings by courts packed with loyalists of President Robert Mugabe.