Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court ordered the release on Wednesday of a top member of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, dismissing an appeal from prosecutors to deny him bail.
“The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal by the state against the High Court decision to grant him bail,” said Beatrice Mtetwa, a lawyer for Roy Bennett, who was arrested on terror charges last month.
BAIL
Mtetwa said however that the court had tightened bail conditions for Bennett, Tsvangirai’s pick for deputy agriculture minister, whose arrest has cast a pall over the new government of national unity.
“He now should pay US$5,000 instead of US$2,000 granted by the High Court. He has to report three times weekly to the police instead of twice,” Mtetwa said.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku also ordered Bennett to surrender his passport and the title deeds for his home, she said.
RELEASE
Bennett was expected to be released later on Wednesday, she said. However, another lawyer for Bennett said that the release would not take place until yesterday.
“The release is now tomorrow [yesterday],” Maanda said by telephone from Mutare, where the MDC official is being held.
“The court which was supposed to issue the warrant of liberation had closed by the time the Supreme Court made its ruling,” Maanda said.
TERROR
Bennett, a white former farmer, has been in custody since Feb. 13 when he was arrested on terror charges as Zimbabwe’s new unity government was being sworn in.
The treasurer of Tsvangirai’s party, Bennett is accused of possessing arms for the purposes of banditry, terrorism and sabotage.
A High Court granted him bail of US$2,000 two weeks ago, but he has remained in custody as prosecutors mounted a series of appeals.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia