Defence lawyers in the treason trial of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday accused the government of breaching the constitution by not releasing details of a deal it made with the main state witness.
Tsvangirai’s lawyers wanted to question witness Ari Ben Menashe about a contract he signed with the government last year but state lawyers say this would be prejuducial to state security.
The defence said Ben Menashe had ”no just excuse” to conceal the contents of an agreement signed between his Canada-based political consultancy, Dickens and Madson, and the Zimbabwean government on January 10, 2002.
That contract was signed just weeks after Tsvangirai was secretly videoed by Ben Menashe at the latter’s Montreal offices, where the opposition leader allegedly requested the ”elimination” of President Robert Mugabe.
State lawyer Bharat Patel produced in court a signed certificate from Security Minister Nicholas Goche saying revelations of the details of the contract would undermine state security. Tsvangirai is standing trial alongside two senior officials from his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) — MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube and shadow agriculture minister Renson Gasela. If convicted of treason they face the death penalty.
The defence lawyers said on Monday they wanted to establish whether the agreement between Ben Menashe — a former Israeli intelligence officer — and the Harare government was ”genuine” or ”a reward for the trapping exercise”.
Patel argued that the certificate from the security minister ”means that the contract between Dickens and Madson and the government, particularly the obligations of Dickens and Madson” should not be disclosed on security grounds.
Tvangirai’s lawyer, George Bizos, dismissed this as ”a ridiculous claim” intended to ”protect an uncooperative and cagey witness”.
He described the minister’s certificate as ”unconstitutional” and said the judge ”has power to go behind it and ignore it”.
”Anything would be done to protect this witness against our cross-examination, to the prejudice of the accused,” Bizos added. Monday’s hearing adjourned for the morning after only an hour.
The defense lawyers are now trying to build up a case to force Ben Menashe and the government to disclose the details of their contract.
The high-profile trial is now in its sixth day and has aroused huge local and international interest. It coincides with the start of the cricket World Cup, which is being played in Zimbabwe against a background of criticism from the opposition and human rights groups.
The case is expected to last for at least another two weeks. – Sapa-AFP