A Zimbabwean court on Tuesday convicted two senior members of President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF and a banker who have admitted to selling state secrets to South Africa, a prosecutor said.
”The sentences have been delivered,” state prosecutor Morgen Nemadire told reporters outside the courtroom where the trial was held behind closed doors.
”Because of the different and various degrees of moral reprehensibility, they have received various and different prison terms, details of which I cannot disclose,” added Nemadire.
Peter Dzvairo, Zimbabwe’s ambassador-designate to Mozambique; Itai Marchi, a director in Zimbabwe’s ruling party; and Tendai Matambanadzo, a banker, pleaded guilty to the charges at their first court appearance on December 24.
Their bid to change their plea to not guilty, on grounds that they had originally confessed under duress, was unsuccessful.
They have, however, sought leniency in connection with their guilty plea.
The maximum sentence the men faced was 20 years in jail and a hefty fine, or both.
Six senior Zanu-PF members, including an MP — are accused of taking part in the spy ring that was allegedly providing South African President Thabo Mbeki’s government with information on the party’s affairs. — Sapa-AFP