Zimbabwe's Econet asks court to suspend warrant in money laundering case
Zimbabwean mobile phone operator Econet Wireless on Monday
sought a court order to suspend a police warrant seeking information on its
transactions because this would violate the privacy of the company and millions
of its subscribers.
The police on Friday requested Econet, which has more than
11 million subscribers, to hand over details of its mobile money transactions
and subscribers because authorities suspect its network was used to conduct
money laundering.
In an urgent High Court application, Econet said the warrant
should be suspended while the court determines its legality at a full hearing
in future.
“The warrant of search and seizure is unlawful and
constitutes a violation of the applicant’s right to privacy and also the right
of privacy of the applicant’s subscribers,” the company said in the court
filing.
Econet argued that the police warrant was too wide in its
scope, which made it unconstitutional.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has already
suspended some of Econet’s mobile money transactions saying they were fuelling
the black market trade for foreign currency.
Comments
Post a Comment