MONDAY, 8.00AM
FORMER Zimbabwe President Canaan Banana finally made his court appearance yesterday on 11 sodomy and indecent assault charges — but neither the public nor the press were there to see the case.
First, prosecutors switched the court room at the last minute in an abortive attempt to fool the public. Then magistrate Jaqueline Pratt refused to allow the case to begin until all members of the public and journalists were cleared from the court, threatening them with the jail cells if they didn’t move out. She said the law entitled her to clear the court during a “curtailed preliminary hearing”.
The court record shows, however, that once the public had departed, Banana had 11 charges read to him, including the indecent assault of seven of his aides, his cook, his gardener and his bodyguard. He was told to surrender his passport, and was given bail equivalent to just over R9 000. A court date was set for August 4 for trial in the High Court.