2000 criminals free in Zimbabwe

Authorities said there are more than 2,000 convicted criminals who are free in Zimbabwe after obtaining bail before their appeals.Robbers, rapists, car-jackers, housebreakers and many other convicts are, as a result, free until their appeal dates, NewsDay reported. Authorities said the numbers of free convicts has become so high as a result of processing delays in court, mainly the shortage of transcribers and the use of old technology. An official said the 16 open transcriber positions can't be filled because of a freeze on government jobs. The courts are attempting to acquire recording and transcribing machines to speed up the appeal process, NewsDay said, but have a very limited budget and currently can only see about 12 of the cases per week.