Zimbabwe
Treason trial against Zimbabwe opposition starts

afrol News, 3 February - Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe's opposition MDC party, today turned up in court in Harare to defend himself against the treason charges made against him. Mr Tsvangirai and two other MDC leaders are accused of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe. 

Also Secretary-General Welshman Ncube of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is charged with treason in the controversial trial. Mr Tsvangirai and his party colleagues risk death penalty if found guilty. 

The MDC-leaders were met by large sympathising crowds as they arrived the tribunal this morning. But journalists, opposition politicians, diplomats and activists were firmly rejected as they wanted to accompany the accused to the court room, where an open trial had been announced. Only the Ambassador of the United States was let into the court. 

Police were using batons to dissolve the angered crowd and several individuals, including two journalists, were arrested. These were reported to be freelance journalist Ish Mafundikwa and Pedzisai Ruhanya, the Deputy News Editor of the Harare independent 'Daily News'.

The MDC lawyers, on the other hand, were given another argument by the incident, as the proceedings had been ordered to be open to the public by Judge Paddington Garwe. The demanded to adjourn the trial until an open hearing could be assured. The MDC leaders are represented by the famous South African lawyer, George Bizos, who also defended Nelson Mandela against the apartheid regime.

The charges against the MDC leadership are based on a disputed Australian TV documentary, broadcasted February last year, where it appears the opposition was planning to have the President assassinated. In a meeting with Canadian consultants, Mr Tsvangirai is to have discussed how to proceed "after the Head of State has been eliminated."

The MDC on the other hand claims the "documentary" is based on a trap laid out by the Mugabe regime under supervision of government lobbyist and ex-Israeli secret service officer Ari Ben-Menashe. 

Mr Tsvangirai had agreed to meet a group of Canadian PR consultants, according to the MDC, following an invitation to develop strategies on how to win last year's presidential elections. As the "consultants" insisted on talking about how to arrange a coup d'état, the MDC delegation claims to have left the offices in rage. The video clippings of this trap had later been heavily edited, it was said. The Canadian consultancy firm also turned out to be led by Mr Ben-Menashe. 

During the last year, Mr Tsvangirai and his colleagues have been charged with treason and have therefore been unable to leave the country. Their passports were confiscated early last year. Also Mr Tsvangirai's predecessor as Zimbabwe's leading opposition figure, Joshua Nkomo, in 1982 was charged with treason against President Mugabe. The charges were later dropped, and Mr Nkomo emerged Vice-President until his death in 1999.

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