The terrorism trial of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s aide Roy Bennett was postponed yesterday, in a case that has unleashed Zimbabwe’s greatest political crisis since the unity government formed.
The delay comes a day after Tsvangirai suspended ties with “unreliable” Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s camp after eight months of fragile partnership amid unresolved disputes over key posts and a crackdown on his supporters.
“It has been agreed by [all] concerned that the matter be postponed. Instead of starting Monday, it starts at a later date,” one of Bennett’s lawyers, Beatrice Mtetwa, told reporters outside the Harare high court.
The Zimbabwe high court on Friday ordered the release of Bennett, who was arrested in February on his return to Zimbabwe, after his bail was revoked by the Mutare magistrate’s court two days earlier.
Tsvangirai earlier shelved cooperation with Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, saying Bennett’s case showed the “fiction of the credibility and integrity” of the partnership with his long-term rival.
“It has brought home the reality that as a movement, we have an unreliable and unrepentant partner,” he told journalists.
“It is our right to disengage from a dishonest and unreliable partner.”
Tsvangirai said he would remain in government but only resume ties once the unity pact was fully in place and all disputes were resolved, which include key posts and a crackdown against his supporters.
Bennett, a white former farmer whose land was seized under Mugabe’s controversial land reforms, was released on Friday.
Bennett’s case immediately became a symbol of the challenges facing the power-sharing pact after his arrest in February, an hour before the unity government swearing-in.
The MDC treasurer was detained on his return from three years in South Africa, where he fled after being implicated in a plot to kill Mugabe.
The state is pushing for his trial to start on Oct. 27 but Mtetwa said the defense wanted more time to prepare.
Meanwhile, Mugabe’s wife was reportedly back in Hong Kong yesterday for the first time since being given diplomatic immunity over an alleged assault.
HONG KONG TRIP
Grace Mugabe, 43, arrived in Hong Kong with an entourage of eight companions on Friday morning and is staying at an undisclosed location, the South China Morning Post reported.
She was escorted through a VIP entrance at Hong Kong International Airport after arriving on a Cathay Pacific flight from Johannesburg, the newspaper said. Her daughter Bona is a university student in Hong Kong.
Grace Mugabe’s visit is her first since January, when she allegedly assaulted British photographer Richard Jones when he took pictures of her shopping close to the luxury hotel where she was staying.
News of Grace Mugabe’s Asian holiday and alleged assault made headlines worldwide at a time when Zimbabwe was suffering from chronic poverty, a cholera epidemic and a political crisis.
She was granted diplomatic immunity as wife of the Zimbabwean president, sparking outrage among legislators and human rights activists.
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