Zimbabwe minister-designate Bennett back behind bars pending trial

Oct 14, 2009, 14:54 GMT

Mutare, Zimbabwe - A court in Zimbabwe has ordered the re-imprisonment of senior Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) politician Roy Bennett in a development the MDC says has serious implications for the country's fragile coalition government.

A judge in Mutare magistrate's court granted an application by state prosecutors for Bennett, 52, to be indicted in the High Court for alleged possession of weapons with intent to commit banditry, insurgency and terrorism.

His case had been due to be heard by the Mutare court but prosecutors said it should be heard by the higher court because of the seriousness of the charges.

The move saw Bennett's bail automatically revoked.

'I commit the accused to prison. If there is any defect in the process, the accused should raise it with the High Court,' magistrate Lucy Mungwari said, handing down ruling in a crowded courtroom.

A visibly shocked Bennett, clad in khaki trousers, brown shoes and a check shirt was immediately whisked away by prison guards.

Bennett is treasurer of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC and a former white farmer, who was named by Tsvangirai for the post of deputy agriculture minister in the country's power-sharing government.

On the day the new cabinet was sworn in in February he was arrested and charged with plotting terrorism. The charges were later downgraded. Bennett denies the charges.

The MDC reacted angrily to Bennett's re-imprisonment, with party spokesman Nelson Chamisa calling it a 'serious abuse of the law which will affect the coalition government.'

'It is no longer prosecution but persecution,' Chamisa charged, warning the MDC would not 'sit and watch this abuse go on.'

Bennett's lawyer Trust Maanda said he was trying to secure his client's release.

Bennett's trial had been due to start on Tuesday in the Mutare court. It is now set down for next week in the High Court.

The MDC accuses the Mugabe-loyal attorney general's office of conspiring to keep Bennett, whose farm was seized by Zanu-PF loyalists during the country's controversial land reform campaign - out of government.

Despite the MDC being in government, its members continue to be harassed, routinely detained and charged in suspicious circumstances.