An official from Zimbabwe’s ruling party has told a court in Harare he was tortured into making statements over his alleged role in selling state secrets to South Africa, press reports said on Wednesday.
Kenny Karidza, a security official in President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) was arrested with four other top party members in December. He appeared in court on Tuesday.
”Karidza … told magistrate Mr William Kasitomo that he was tortured and forced to sign some of the statements he allegedly made to the arresting policemen,” the state-controlled Herald newspaper said.
”Karidza said the arresting officers would bring him written statements which they would force him to copy in his own handwriting and then endorse them. He said he had to comply to avert further torture,” the paper said.
The report did not specify the nature of the torture, but said Karidza was interrogated as to who he thought would succeed the 81-year old Mugabe.
Karidza was also asked about information he allegedly passed on to a white South African spy, described by the Zimbabwean authorities as a key state witness.
The privately-run Daily Mirror said Karidza had been held in an underground cell for a fortnight.
Three other Zanu-PF officials, including Zimbabwe’s former ambassador to South Africa, have already been sentenced to prison terms of five and six years in connection with the case.
A fifth member of the alleged spy ring, Phillip Chiyangwa, was released earlier this year after the High Court said there was not enough evidence to keep him in jail.
A sixth man, diplomat Erasmus Moyo is said to have given Zimbabwean state agents the slip in Geneva. – Sapa-DPA