The year-long treason trial of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai began winding up yesterday with the state prosecutor
declaring him guilty of plotting to assassinate President Robert
Mugabe - a crime that carries the death penalty.
"The accused committed the crime of high treason by inciting and seeking to arrange the assassination of the head of state," said acting attorney general Bharat Patel, adding that the state had proved its case "beyond reasonable doubt".
Tsvangirai, a former union leader who formed the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 1999 to challenge Mugabe, says the government is trying to frame him.
He challenged Mugabe unsuccessfully in a presidential election in 2002, which many international observers charged was rigged. The opposition leader has been detained frequently and occasionally attacked in a climate of lawlessness characterised by political violence and economic meltdown over the past few years.
The charges against Tsvangirai arose from a secretly recorded videotape - grainy and only partially audible - of a meeting he held with Canadian political consultant Ari Ben Menashe in Montreal in December 2001.
Tsvangirai said he had hired Ben Menashe's firm Dickens and Madison to help with international lobbying and fundraising for his party, but later discovered the government had also hired it.
Ben Menashe, who claims to be a former Israeli security agent, became the government's key witness, saying Tsvangirai discussed assassinating Mugabe with him.
"To some extent the defence case appears to suggest that the accused is claiming to have been entrapped by Dickens and Madison into committing the crime of high treason.
It's submitted that this does not constitute a defence under our law," Patel told the Harare High Court.
The defence called three senior MDC officials – secretary general Welshman Ncube, shadow agriculture minister Renson Gasela and shadow defence minister Giles Mutsekwa - to testify in support of their leader.
In his closing arguments, Patel described their evidence as "not quite clear".
"While the defence witnesses have been credible, they failed to explain crucial issues," he said.
"Is it a flat denial or a plea of entrapment? Are they saying none of this took place or he was trapped? ... The witnesses cannot be believed," Patel said.
The language in the Montreal videotape, such as "elimination", "terminate", "moving Mugabe aside" and "chaos" clearly showed that Tsvangirai had a sinister motive, Patel argued.
He also said a statement by Tsvangirai that if Mugabe failed to go peacefully "he will be removed violently" and the opposition leader's call for sanctions all pointed to sinister motives.
"We would like you to simply reject evidence of Tsvangirai, which is simply not credible," Patel urged the court.
Tsvangirai said he hired Dickens and Madison to help with fundraising in the US and Canada, but Patel said the lobbying and fundraising were a cover so that the plot to kill Mugabe would appear like an "accident".
He described Ben Menashe as "fairly clear, reliable and a credible witness".
Ben Menashe said in his evidence that the contract agreement he signed with the MDC gave him a general mandate to help the party carry out the assassination and coup.
South African lawyer George Bizos, Tsvangirai's main counsel, however yesterday said Ben Menashe "was not credible, he is a clown".
"He is not a satisfactory witness who can be used to convict one of the political leaders of the country," Bizos said, adding that Ben Menashe "contradicted himself".
Bizos said two state witnesses - Ben Menashe and his personal assistant Tara Thomas - were attracted by money to give incriminating evidence.
He said Ben Menashe received 200 000 US dollars from the Zimbabwe government for delivering the videotape used in the case and Thomas got 8 000 US - equivalent to her annual salary – for just giving evidence against Tsvangirai.
"The inference is clear that the state, for obvious reasons, was not desirous of discovering the truth of the matter as it was solely motivated by political considerations," Bizos said.
Defence closing arguments were to continue today. – Sapa-AFP.
"The accused committed the crime of high treason by inciting and seeking to arrange the assassination of the head of state," said acting attorney general Bharat Patel, adding that the state had proved its case "beyond reasonable doubt".
Tsvangirai, a former union leader who formed the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 1999 to challenge Mugabe, says the government is trying to frame him.
He challenged Mugabe unsuccessfully in a presidential election in 2002, which many international observers charged was rigged. The opposition leader has been detained frequently and occasionally attacked in a climate of lawlessness characterised by political violence and economic meltdown over the past few years.
The charges against Tsvangirai arose from a secretly recorded videotape - grainy and only partially audible - of a meeting he held with Canadian political consultant Ari Ben Menashe in Montreal in December 2001.
Tsvangirai said he had hired Ben Menashe's firm Dickens and Madison to help with international lobbying and fundraising for his party, but later discovered the government had also hired it.
Ben Menashe, who claims to be a former Israeli security agent, became the government's key witness, saying Tsvangirai discussed assassinating Mugabe with him.
"To some extent the defence case appears to suggest that the accused is claiming to have been entrapped by Dickens and Madison into committing the crime of high treason.
It's submitted that this does not constitute a defence under our law," Patel told the Harare High Court.
The defence called three senior MDC officials – secretary general Welshman Ncube, shadow agriculture minister Renson Gasela and shadow defence minister Giles Mutsekwa - to testify in support of their leader.
In his closing arguments, Patel described their evidence as "not quite clear".
"While the defence witnesses have been credible, they failed to explain crucial issues," he said.
"Is it a flat denial or a plea of entrapment? Are they saying none of this took place or he was trapped? ... The witnesses cannot be believed," Patel said.
The language in the Montreal videotape, such as "elimination", "terminate", "moving Mugabe aside" and "chaos" clearly showed that Tsvangirai had a sinister motive, Patel argued.
He also said a statement by Tsvangirai that if Mugabe failed to go peacefully "he will be removed violently" and the opposition leader's call for sanctions all pointed to sinister motives.
"We would like you to simply reject evidence of Tsvangirai, which is simply not credible," Patel urged the court.
Tsvangirai said he hired Dickens and Madison to help with fundraising in the US and Canada, but Patel said the lobbying and fundraising were a cover so that the plot to kill Mugabe would appear like an "accident".
He described Ben Menashe as "fairly clear, reliable and a credible witness".
Ben Menashe said in his evidence that the contract agreement he signed with the MDC gave him a general mandate to help the party carry out the assassination and coup.
South African lawyer George Bizos, Tsvangirai's main counsel, however yesterday said Ben Menashe "was not credible, he is a clown".
"He is not a satisfactory witness who can be used to convict one of the political leaders of the country," Bizos said, adding that Ben Menashe "contradicted himself".
Bizos said two state witnesses - Ben Menashe and his personal assistant Tara Thomas - were attracted by money to give incriminating evidence.
He said Ben Menashe received 200 000 US dollars from the Zimbabwe government for delivering the videotape used in the case and Thomas got 8 000 US - equivalent to her annual salary – for just giving evidence against Tsvangirai.
"The inference is clear that the state, for obvious reasons, was not desirous of discovering the truth of the matter as it was solely motivated by political considerations," Bizos said.
Defence closing arguments were to continue today. – Sapa-AFP.
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