Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was taken Monday by police to a court in Harare, where he was due to appear on treason charges brought after he allegedly urged Zimbabweans to oust President Robert Mugabe, an opposition spokesperson said.
Tsvangirai was arrested on Friday, the last day of a series of anti-government protests called by his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, and charged with treason for ”organising and holding rallies urging his supporters to take to the streets to overthrow Mugabe,” his lawyer Innocent Chagonda said.
Tsvangirai was due to appear in court Saturday morning, but the hearing was delayed at the request of his lawyers to allow the court to be fitted out with recording equipment.
The opposition leader has been held in police custody since his arrest.
The latest charges brought against Tsvangirai mark the second time that the former trade unionist has been charged with treason. In March last year, Tsvangirai and two other key MDC officials were charged with high treason in connection with an alleged plot to ”eliminate” Mugabe.
That trial began in February, and carries a possible death penalty on conviction.
On Saturday, MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda demanded that Tsvangirai be freed immediately, warning that if he was not, ”the dying regime must brace itself for a long winter of intense but peaceful mass action.”
The MDC blames Mugabe’s government for chronic economic hardships and widespread shortages affecting most people in this former British colony.
It has refused to accept the results of the March 2002 presidential election, in which Tsvangirai was beaten by Mugabe, and has challenged them in court. – Sapa-AFP