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ZIMBABWE: COURT ACQUITS MUGABE OPPONENT ROY BENNETT
May 10, 2010: Roy Bennett, a leading opponent of Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, has been acquitted of terrorism charges that could have led to the death penalty.
The high court in Harare, packed with supporters, journalists and foreign diplomats, erupted in cheers and applause today as a judge ruled that all charges be dropped in a case that has strained Zimbabwe's unity government.
Bennett, 53, a white former farmer and now treasurer general of the Movement for Democratic Change party, said: "It was incredibly emotional. To have this hanging over your head, knowing it could mean the death penalty, has been very hard. I've got to thank God and think that good will always triumph over evil. This experience has fortified me and made me stronger."
He had been accused of buying £3,000 worth of arms in 2006 to carry out acts of insurgency, sabotage, banditry or terrorism in a plot to topple Mugabe.
His supporters, including the prime minister and MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, maintained the charges were baseless and aimed at undermining the coalition.
Judge Chinembiri Bhunu ruled that the most important evidence presented by prosecutors – a confession that an arms dealer said he was tortured into making – was inadmissible.
He also ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove that emails allegedly linking Bennett to the arms dealer were genuine. "The state has failed to prove its case," the judge told the court as he dismissed the charges. "The accused is accordingly found not guilty." (Sources: Guardian, 11/05/2010)
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