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2003-06-09 East/Subsaharan Africa
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Tsvangirai appears in court
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Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, today appeared in court on the first of the two counts of treason he is charged with. Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested on Friday at the end of a week of anti-government protests and accused of inciting human rights and democracy his supporters to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.
But his court appearance today was part of an ongoing trial on charges he plotted to kill Mr Mugabe in late 2001 to spark a coup.
Any charge will do, eh Bob?
The case has revolved around grainy videotaped footage purporting to show the MDC leader discussing the possibility of "eliminating" Mr Mugabe at a meeting in Montreal, Canada. He may face a death sentence if convicted.
Mr Tsvangirai is, however, expected to appear later today in Harare's magistrates court on the second, incitement-related treason charge. No time for the hearing had been set but his lawyers and supporters yesterday said they would demand his immediate release.
The MDC leader was held over the weekend at a Harare police station that a high court judge, Benjamin Paradza, who was briefly detained there in February, had complained was lice-ridden. His supporters have threatened renewed protests against Mr Mugabe's 23-year rule if Mr Tsvangirai is not set free. "If our president is not released immediately, the dying regime must brace itself for a long winter of intense but peaceful mass action," the MDC vice-president, Gibson Sibanda, told reporters.
Careful of those punks in the white T-shirts, Gib.
The MDC says Mr Mugabe's government is illegitimate and blames it for ruining an economy struggling with high inflation and unemployment and crippling shortages of food and fuel. Mr Mugabe, who insists he won last year's general election fairly, said in an interview last night that he would not retire soon. "As long as there is that fight, I am for a fight ... I can still punch and feel perfectly punch-drunk right now," he told South African television.
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Posted by Steve White 2003-06-09 06:51 pm||
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