The trial of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, set to resume next week, has been postponed for the second time.
The marathon trial, which started in February this year, was supposed to see Tsvangirai being cross-examined by state lawyers on his role in allegedly plotting the assassination of President Robert Mugabe.
The trial, first supposed to resume in September, was then postponed to Monday.
But Innocent Chagonda, one of Tsvangirai’s lawyers, said the trial may only resume ”some time next year” after it was discovered that the judge and one of his assessors had other engagements that might interrupt proceedings.
He added that the court might still resume during the current term, which ends in early December, so that the state can amend its case against Tsvangirai.
State lawyers have argued that Tsvangirai, who attended a meeting in Canada in December 2001 with political consultant Ari Ben Menashe, allegedly requested Mugabe’s elimination ahead of 2002 presidential elections.
The black-and-white videotaped evidence of that meeting produced in the Harare High Court has been grainy, and only partially audible.
Reports say state lawyers now want to produce evidence that Tsvangirai discussed the alleged plot at two meetings prior to the Canadian one.
Tsvangirai denies the charges against him, which carry the death penalty on conviction. He says he was set up by government agents ahead of last year’s presidential poll, which he lost to Mugabe.
Two other senior officials from his Movement for Democratic Change who had stood trial alongside him had charges against them dropped in August due to lack of evidence.
Tsvangirai faces a second charge of treason for allegedly inciting his supporters to overthrow the government in June this year. That trial is due to start next year. — Sapa-AFP