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SW Radio Africa (London)
The Supreme Court has ensured that MDC Treasurer General Roy Bennett will not be sworn in to his post as Deputy Agriculture Minister any time soon, after postponing his acquittal case 'indefinitely'. High Court Judge Chinembiri Bhunu in May acquitted Bennett on charges of possessing weapons of war and plotting to assassinate Robert Mugabe, saying the State had failed to establish a 'prima facie' case against the accused. The State later filed an appeal in the Supreme Court requesting that the acquittal be set aside. That acquittal application was heard on Wednesday. But according to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku postponed his decision 'indefinitely' citing large amounts of 'bulky' court paperwork to sort through. Chidyausiku "has indicated that because the record is very bulky it will take him long to come to a decision," Bennett's lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa told reporters after a three-hour, closed-door hearing. "The matter has been postponed indefinitely," she added. Relevant LinksThe postponement will now delay Bennett's swearing-in as a government Minister for an indefinite time, which is helpful for Mugabe who has insisted he will not swear him in until he is completely cleared of all charges. The issue has been one of many outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that ZANU PF still refuses to honour. As a result, the unity government has remained at a complete stalemate and the outstanding Bennett issue will serve to further strain tensions in the shaky coalition. The case against Bennett stems from allegations of a plot to oust Mugabe in 2006. The state says that Bennett gave money to gun merchant Peter Michael Hitschmann to buy weapons to be used to assassinate Mugabe. Prosecutors say that Hitschmann implicated Bennett when he was arrested in 2006 after being found in possession of firearms, claims the gun-dealer has denied. Hitschmann said he was tortured into making confessions implicating the MDC politician during interrogation at a military barracks near Mutare. Read comments. Write your own. Copyright © 2010 SW Radio Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. AllAfrica - All the Time
Fri Jul 30 19:01:39 2010
So Phiri, I take it by you saying that Roy bennet is a liabily you are saying that he is white and has no place in Zimbabwe. George, Coltart is also white and I find coltart much more understanding and sensitive to the needs of the majority. Bwennet is embroided in old Rhodesian poliitics, which is way outdated.
Sat Jul 31 11:53:50 2010
Phiri, ok fair do what you say, that's your right, but in the same breath i will say this, when the people of the constituency voted for Roy Bennett to be their MP, who has the right to no you can't have him. If he is so bad, then the people would not have voted for him and would of voted for someone more sympathetic towards them. So does Bob have the right to deny the people their choice? You would have to agree that he does not have that right, president or not, he can disagree with the peoples… [Read Full Text] Democracy at its best...Zimbo style. |
Alex Bell ". Roy Bennett will not be sworn in to his post as Deputy Agriculture Minister any time soon, after postponing his acquittal 'Indefinitely' .."
Oh. We symphathize with you, dear Alex. You really wanted to see the fox put in charge of the hens. That would have amused your vile brit cursedness immensely.
A number of USA's Prez Obama's nominees were not approved expeditiously. So he dropped some of them and picked replacements which were more acceptable. [I must be clear from the comments in this ZIM section that there are many typical mindless… [Read Full Text]
Chokora, your comments are interesting and I do share the sentiments with you on this one! The MDC is putting itself in jeopardy by supporting a candidate like Bennett who is a political liability and heavy suspicions by a good many people. For one, he is not Coltart who is a reasonable Cabinet Minister and a fully integrated white Zimbabweans.
I also feel Bennett is still bitter about what happened to him and the jail time he served. Bennett may be a cash cow for the MDC. Maybe it is time to move on...and ditch him for somebody less controversial