Zimbabwe to appeal Tsvangirai acquittal

Zimbabwe to appeal Tsvangirai acquittal

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ZIMBABWE'S government will appeal against the acquittal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on treason charges by mid-November, a state-owned newspaper has reported.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said the move showed President Robert Mugabe's government was pursuing a political vendetta against the opposition leader.

The Zimbabwe High Court acquitted Tsvangirai two weeks ago on charges of plotting to assassinate Mugabe and seize power ahead of a presidential election in 2002, saying the state had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Acting attorney-general Bharat Patel -- who had previously indicated the state was likely to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court -- was quoted by the government-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper as saying the appeal would be filed in the next two weeks.

"Certainly by the middle of November we would have filed the appeal," he was quoted as saying.

Lawyers say the state's appeal is not likely to be heard for several months.

Patel was unavailable for comment. But the Sunday Mail reported him saying that the decision to appeal was not political but based on strong legal grounds.

Tsvangirai's MDC said the state's appeal showed Mugabe's government was pursuing a vendetta against its leader and the opposition.

"Our position has always been that there was no criminal case in the treason charge and that this was political, and the High Court's decision demonstrated this point," MDC spokesman Paul Themba-Nyathi said.

"If they are going to appeal, it shows the government is still pursuing its political case but I think the courts will again find there is no criminal case," he said.

Analysts say Tsvangirai's acquittal has eased political tensions in the country but that they will rise again in the run-up to March parliamentary elections.

Although the MDC has said it will boycott all elections until the government implements "real" electoral reforms, analysts say the party is likely to contest the poll.

Tsvangirai is also facing separate treason charges linked to anti-Mugabe protests he tried to organise in June 2003 which the MDC said were aimed at driving Mugabe from power.

He is due back in court on Wednesday for a routine remand appearance.

The Zimbabwe government condemned Tsvangirai's acquittal in the first trial, saying a guilty man had been allowed to walk free.

The case against Tsvangirai rested on a secretly taped video of a Montreal meeting between him and a Canada-based political consultant, Ari Ben-Menashe, where prosecutors said Mugabe's "elimination" was discussed.
Reuters
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