Key Tsvangirai Ally Arraigned On ‘Terrorism’ Charges

A top official of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has been charged in court on allegations of terrorism.

Just days after Tsvangirai ended a boycott of the country’s unity government; MDC Treasurer Roy Bennett was arraigned in a Harare court for allegedly possessing weapons with intent to commit terrorism in 2006.

The charges carry a death penalty under Zimbabwe’s constitution. Bennett was arrested in February upon return from exile in South Africa to participate in his party’s negotiations to share power with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF after the country’s disputed 2008 elections.

Tsvangirai nominated him as deputy minister for agriculture in the unity government that resulted from the negotiations, but Mugabe has refused to swear him in until he is acquitted by the courts. The case was adjourned for a day following hours of heated argument from both sides.

Tsvangirai recently staged a three-week boycott of the unity government citing intimidation of his party members by Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and the president’s failure to honour their joint power-sharing agreement. [ER].