Key evidence produced in the treason trial of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was ”inaudible”, a government recording expert told the court on Wednesday.
Constantine Musango, a court official tasked with making transcripts of recorded evidence, was appearing as a state witness in the ongoing treason trial of Tsvangirai and two other senior Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials accused of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe.
The evidence against the three hinges on secretly recorded tapes of meetings Tsvangirai had with Canada-based political consultant Ari Ben Menashe at which Tsvangirai allegedly requested Mugabe’s ”elimination” ahead of 2002 presidential elections.
Musango said he was not given an original copy of an audiotape of a meeting Tsvangirai held with Ben Menashe in London, while the images on a videotape of a meeting he had with him in December 2001 were unclear.
He said he had brought his concerns about the inaudibility of the tapes to the attention of the government’s law office, which is representing the state against the MDC trio.
”I just wanted to explain to them the tapes were inaudible,” Musango said. ”The impression I got from the attorney general was that I should go ahead in transcribing.”
Defence lawyer Chris Andersen claimed police had suppressed information. He said an original, clearer audiotape had not been turned over to Musango or the attorney general’s office.
Tsvangirai, MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube, and senior party official Renson Gasela deny they plotted to kill Mugabe, and claim they were set up.
They face the death penalty if convicted. – Sapa-AFP