The State, through the office of the Attorney General, intends to withdraw a case in which former Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) Chairperson Timothy Mtambo and others are being accused of soliciting others to shut down state residences in the country.

Mtambo was arrested in March this year alongside other leaders Gift Trapence and Reverend MacDonald Sembereka.

In April, the High Court granted a stay order stopping hearing of the case pending judicial review after the trio argued through one of its lawyers Khumbo Soko that the arrests might have been politically motivated.

But in a latest twist, the state wants to withdraw from the case altogether according to one of the lawyers for the three, Khwima Mchizi.