A white security expert arrested more than two weeks ago over a stash of weapons found at his home in eastern Zimbabwe has been denied bail, local reports said on Friday.
”The High Court yesterday [Thursday] denied a bail application by ex-Rhodesian soldier Peter Michael Hitschmann,” the radio said.
Hitschmann was arrested in the city of Mutare in early March along with four members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and four policemen.
Police found weapons at Hitschmann’s house and said he was part of a plot to unseat President Robert Mugabe and his government. But the case appeared to fall apart when it emerged that Hitschmann was a registered arms dealer.
State prosecutors went on to drop terrorism charges against the policemen and the four members of the opposition.
But Hitschmann is still in custody and faces charges of conspiracy to possess weapons for insurgency.
Harare High Court Judge Alfas Chitakunye on Thursday turned down Hitschmann’s bail application, saying that the chances of his absconding before trial was high, the state-controlled Herald reported.
He faces face life imprisonment if convicted.
State prosecutors said he had a licence to deal only in non-automatic weapons, but some of those found at his home were automatic ”military” weapons.
”The quantity is such that it cannot be accounted for by reason of personal use alone. It is presumed that the weapons were intended for acts of insurgency,” state lawyer Florence Ziyambi said.
Hitschmann’s bail application this week was first due to be held on Wednesday but was postponed when judge Charles Hungwe unexpectedly recused himself.
Meanwhile, Mutare residents say Hitschmann never fought for the minority white regime in what was then Rhodesia, as state media claims. They say he was taken out of the country during the bush war in the 1970s by his parents, who opposed the war on religious grounds. — Sapa-dpa