Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Roy Bennett and his wife, Heather, outside the High Court in Harare this morning. The judge in his case has now delivered his ruling on a crucial Defence application that would have had the effect of stopping the trial and referring the Attorney-General to the Law Society of Zimbabwe for dereliction of duty, as he sought to present improperly obtained evidence in the case. That application has been thrown out. The Defence gets the consolation of being allowed to lead evidence that the testimony of the star witness was obtained through torture, a move the AG opposed. Harare, Zimbabwe, 11 November 2009 Judge Justice Bhunu delivered a ruling this morning that effectively takes the Bennett case back to Square One. In his ruling, the judge rejected an application by lawyers for Bennett seeking to bar the evidence by Peter Hitschman, which they were arguing was procured by means of torture. They also insisted that the witness has now subsequently declared that he can not testify against Benn...

Zimbabwe Riot Police Patrol the Entrance to the High Court before the arrival of Roy Bennett for his terrorism trial in Harare today. Justice Bhunu, the presiding Judge, has now indicated that he is ready with his ruling on the applications brought by the Attorney-General and by Bennett's lawyers. The ruling will be delivered at 11:00a.m. Zimbabwe time tomorrow. It is an crucial ruling with far-reaching implications for the justice delivery system in Zimbabwe. Harare, Zimbabwe, 09 November 2009 Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, the judge in the terrorism trial of Roy Bennett this afternoon informed Roy Bennett's lawyers that he has reached a decision on the applications brought by them and by Attorney General Johannes Tomana. Bhunu had earlier today indicated that he would only deliver his ruling on Wednesday. I am not sure whether Bennett's lawyers should be celebrating or not because of this fast-tracking. Although Judges in Zimbabwe are beginning to assert their independence, th...

Roy Bennett arrives at court in Harare earlier today, flanked by one of his lawyers, Beatrice Mtetwa. His trial is now turning messy, with applications for dismal and counter-application from both the Defence and the Attorney General, who has taken personal charge of the prosecution of Bennett, who is Tsvangirai's Deputy Minister of Agriculture nominee. Mugabe refuses to swear him in until he is cleared of the charges he currently faces. Harare, Zimbabwe, 09 November 2009 The trial of Roy Bennett is now turning into a messy affair after the Defence lawyers applied to have the testimony of a key witness barred from being heard in court. Bennett's trial, which opened in Harare today was "provisionally" postponed by Justice Chinembiri Bhunu to Wednesday, when he expects that he would have made a ruling on the application by the State as well as the Attorney-General's own counter-applications. It appears that a statement from Peter Hitschman has been recorded by the A...

Harare, Zimbabwe, 19 October 2009 In a shocking and virtually unprecedented move, the Zimbabwe Attorney General, Johannes Tomana has taken personal charge of the prosecution of Roy Bennett and appeared for the State today in court where the Defence was seeking to have the trial of the MDC Treasurer-General postponed. Tomana's move means that Mugabe and ZANU PF are now taking the gloves with regards to Bennett. They did not expect him to be given bail, but he appeared before one of the most impartial judges in Zimbabwe today, Justice Hungwe, who granted him the bail under the same conditions as he has been since his arrest earlier this year. Tomana appeared personally in court leading the prosecution that also includes Michael Mugabe, the law officer in the AGs office who has been leading the prosecution of Bennett up until today. But, to show just how serious this matter has now become for ZANU PF, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Florence Ziyambi, has also been brought onto th...

Roy Bennet upon his release from prison earlier this year. He had been abducted from Charles Prince Airport where it was said he was trying to flee the country illegally. His trial has been in limbo until his lawyers forced matters yesterday by applying to have him removed from remand. The State immediately said it was now ready to have him stand trial at the High Court. A ruling on the matter is expected today. Harare, Zimbabwe, 14 October 2009 The State yesterday gave notice to a Magistrate in Mutare that, not only has it finalised its case against MDC Deputy Minister of Agriculture-designate Roy Bennett, but also that indicting him, they will seek to have him refused bail and locked up throughout his trial. Beatrice Mtetwa, who is representing Roy Bennett, wants the court to dismiss the case against Bennett and is arguing that the State only revealed yesterday that it was ready to indict him without giving him notice of this fact. But Prosecutor Michael Mugabe says, "The State ...

Roy Bennett, seen here on his release from prison on March 12 this year, is set to have another set of charges levelled against him. This time, he will be accused of dabbling in illegally dealing in diamonds from the Marange Diamond Field in Manicaland, his home province. Harare, Zimbabwe, 09 August 2009 Roy Bennett is having another case cooked up for him by ZANU PF in order to ensure that he goes to jail. So determined is ZANU PF on the matter that even today, in article discussing the "outstanding issues", state media mentions that there has been agreement on Ambassadors and governors to be sworn in but makes no mention whatsoever of Roy Bennett. The case being cooked up against Bennett is as follows: The state will allege that Bennett, who is from Manicaland province, was an "illegal diamond mining baron". Patently false witnesses have been lined up to give depositions that Bennett hired and employed several diamond miners (makorokoza) at the Marange Diamond Fi...