A magistrate in Harare ordered the release of Marry Mubaiwa, the former wife of Zimbabwe's vice president, on Tuesday after seven years in custody on remand in an attempted-murder case, BBC and Africanews reported^1,2.

Mubaiwa was charged in 2019 after her then husband, Gen. Constantino Chiwenga, accused her of trying to interfere with his medical treatment in South Africa¹. Africanews said a doctor alleged she pulled an intravenous tube from Chiwenga's chest while he was hospitalized².

She was held without bail while the case remained unresolved^1,2. Chiwenga later spent about four months receiving treatment in China, BBC reported¹.

This week prosecutors asked for another postponement, which BBC said was a month to engage witnesses, prompting the magistrate to end the proceeding^1,2. State-owned daily The Herald said the magistrate found Mubaiwa had suffered mental, physical and financial prejudice during the trial¹.

Her lawyer called the outcome a victory that had come too late because of the delay, BBC reported, and said any new trial would be dealt with if the state sought one¹. Africanews said Mubaiwa thanked her lawyers outside court and that prosecutors could still try to restart the case².

Chiwenga was a central figure in the 2017 ouster of then-President Robert Mugabe^1,2. What, if anything, the state files next was not reported^1,2.