Judge rules Mukoko must see doctor

Judge rules Mukoko must see doctor

ABUSE: Mukoko has charged that she was tortured

• Judge rules Mukoko must be treated in prison

• Magistrate rules activists must stay in jail as Tsvangirai deadline looms

• Mukoko says she was tortured, wants charges dropped

• Magistrate withholds contempt ruling on Mukoko and others

• Mukoko, 9 others charged with plot to overthrow Mugabe

• 3 more kidnapped as police say Mukoko kidnapped

• Fears grow for missing former TV anchor

Posted to the web: 05/01/2009 13:42:15
A JUDGE ordered Monday that former TV news anchor Jestina Mukoko, accused of plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe, receive medical attention before the case proceeds.

Police must comply with an earlier court order that Mukoko be taken to a hospital so allegations of torture can be investigated, Judge Gloria Takunda said.

Justice Takunda postponed the case of Mukoko and 31 other activists until Tuesday.

Defence lawyers say that police have defied at least two court orders to free the activists, who appeared last week in court with swollen and bloodied faces.

Mukoko had been missing for three weeks before she appeared in court in late December. She and the other activists claim they have been tortured while in police custody.

The opposition has dismissed the plot as fabricated amid an increasing clampdown on dissent.

Mugabe, who has been in power since the country's 1980 independence from Britain, reached a power-sharing agreement with the opposition in September following a disputed presidential election.

The implementation of the deal has stalled but The Herald newspaper, a government mouthpiece, reported Monday that Mugabe was expected to form a new government by the end of February. The 84-year-old leader is out of the country on a month's vacation.

Over the weekend, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai insisted that he will not become prime minister in a unity government until disagreements are settled.

The deal designated Mugabe as president and Tsvangirai as prime minister. Tsvangirai led in the first round of presidential elections but refused to take part in a run-off citing violence against his supporters.

The accord has not been implemented because of disagreement over Cabinet posts. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change is angry that Mugabe has earmarked "key ministries" for his party.

The MDC is holding out for control of the Home Affairs ministry -- saying this is necessary to stop police violence against opposition supporters -- and has rejected a proposal by mediators to split control of the ministry.

The political impasse has paralySed Zimbabwe, where an economic crisis has led to hunger and disease. - AP
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