ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe's High Court ruled yesterday that a treason case against opposition leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai should proceed, saying there was enough evidence that he had plotted to kill President Robert Mugabe.
But High Court Judge Paddington Garwe dismissed similar charges against two other leaders of Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), party secretary-general Mr Welshman Ncube and executive member Mr Renson Gasela.
Political analysts said the ruling would not affect efforts to bring the Mugabe government and the MDC to talks over a deepening political and economic crisis, but it could affect Mr Tsvangirai's leadership role if his legal troubles drag on.
"If there is a deal that some members feel is reasonable, he can easily be sidelined," said political analyst Lovemore Madhuku.
Mr Tsvangirai's lawyers had asked the court to dismiss the treason case, saying the state failed to present a solid case.
Judge Garwe said he saw "no basis" to drop the case against Mr Tsvangirai, who has emerged as the most potent threat to Mr Mugabe since independence from Britain in 1980. He said state lawyers had persuaded him that Mr Tsvangirai had discussed Mr Mugabe's assassination and a coup d'état, and attended four meetings in pursuing the plot.
Judge Garwe said he had dismissed the charges against Mr Ncube and Mr Gasela because state lawyers produced only one witness to tie them to the case, instead of the two required by law. While defence lawyers repeatedly attacked the state's star witness, Canadian public relations consultant Mr Ari Ben-Menashe, as unreliable, Judge Garwe said the evidence he had presented was still usable.
"I am satisfied that there is no basis upon which accused number one can be acquitted," he said. Mr Tsvangirai and his two MDC colleagues have been on trial since February, and entered not guilty pleas. Mr Tsvangirai, who faces a separate treason trial in connection with anti-government protests in June, could face the death penalty if convicted of the assassination plot.
The state's case hinges on a videotape of a meeting in Montreal between Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Ben-Menashe which it says shows the opposition leader discussing Mugabe's "elimination". - (Reuters)