Zimbabwean Stands Trial for Terrorism
2009-11-10 3:5
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's ally Roy Bennett stood trial for terrorism on Monday. The case sees him facing a death penalty if convicted.
Bennett was arrested in February. He’s charged with illegally possessing arms for purposes of committing acts of terrorism, banditry and insurgency. These charges carry a maximum death sentence on conviction.
The politically charged case triggered a cabinet boycott by Tsvangirai's party MDC last month after Bennett was detained in prison.
Bennett has consistently denied the charges. The MDC says the case is politically motivated to stop him from taking office as deputy agriculture minister.
The MDC says Mugabe is frustrating efforts to swear-in Bennett, along with other senior government officials, as part of a political agreement signed last year.
Mugabe says he does not oppose Bennett becoming deputy agriculture minister but that he should be acquitted by the courts first.
Bennett is a former coffee farmer in the east of the country, but in 2004 he served 12 months in jail for pushing a minister from Mugabe's party in parliament.
