Lawyers for detained Zimbabwean opposition official Tendai Biti asked a court to release him unconditionally on Tuesday after police failed to bring him to court to face a treason charge.
Biti, the secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has been in police custody since he was arrested at Harare airport on Thursday as he returned home ahead of a June 27 presidential election run-off.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, challenging veteran President Robert Mugabe in the vote, was detained and released at least three times last week.
Police said they were holding Biti for announcing the results of the March 29 general elections prematurely. He faces a possible death penalty if convicted of the treason charge.
”We are seeking a declaration of his continued detention as unlawful and for his immediate release. The application was filed this morning, but we are yet to be allocated a judge to hear it,” defence lawyer Lewis Uriri said.
Uriri added that it was possible that the police would lay more charges against Biti.
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe (84) in the election but failed to win the absolute majority required to avoid a run-off, according to official figures.
Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, is fighting to keep power amid a desperate economic crisis that has brought hyperinflation and foot shortages and has driven millions of Zimbabweans to seek work abroad.
Violence
The MDC accuses the government of waging a violent campaign designed to intimidate the opposition and its supporters ahead of the run-off.
At least 66 opposition activists have been killed by Zanu-PF militia since the March elections, the MDC says. Mugabe blames the opposition for the violence that has caused widespread international concern.
Mugabe threatened on Monday to arrest MDC leaders over the violence.
”This election is flawed. It is not free and fair and, therefore, whatever result comes out will be illegitimate,” Maureen Kademaunga, an official with the independent Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, told reporters in Nairobi.
”What we want is for the world to be brave enough to stand up and actually hold Mugabe accountable for the atrocities that he is committing against the people of Zimbabwe.”
The Zimbabwean ruler warned last week that his supporters were ready to take up arms to prevent the African nation from falling under the control of the country’s white minority and Western powers.
A senior United Nations envoy, assistant secretary general for political affairs Haile Menkerios, arrived in Zimbabwe late on Monday for a five-day visit to assess Zimbabwe’s political and humanitarian crisis before the run-off vote. – Reuters