Tsvangirai treason trial resumes

The treason trial of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, and two of his colleagues resumed on Monday. Tsvangirai, MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube and MP Renson Gasela are accused of attempting to hire Canadian consultant Ari Ben-Menashe to "eliminate" President Robert Mugabe. The allegation emerged shortly before last year's closely contested presidential elections. News reports said the MDC's legal representative, South African human rights lawyer George Bizos, accused a senior policeman of trying to cover up for Ben-Menashe, the key state witness and a consultant to the government. The state's case hinges on transcripts of tapes made at meetings between Ben-Menashe and Tsvangirai in London and Montreal. Bizos said transcripts of the tapes did not back the state's claim against Tsvangirai and were barely audible, the reports noted. The three face the death penalty if convicted. In another development, the MDC filed a motion in court last week to order that a date be set for the party's petition to challenge the results of the election which returned Mugabe to power. The court challenge is at the centre of attempts to get the MDC and the ruling ZANU-PF back to the negotiating table to resolve the country's political crisis. ZANU-PF has repeatedly said it would not resume talks unless the MDC withdrew its court challenge. The MDC had rejected any conditions to the resumption of dialogue. Meanwhile, on Sunday Tsvangirai told a rally in Harare that the party was planning further protest action following a successful two-day stayaway held in March. "The time has come for everyone, including the suffering ZANU-PF members, to get ready to make the final push and finish this business. When we call on you to come out, everyone, except for the sick and elderly, should come out and take to the streets," the pro-opposition Daily News reported him as saying.