HARARE - The trial of Zimbabwes deputy agriculture minister-designate Roy Bennett Bennett was charged under the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for buying arms of war in 2006 to carry out acts of insurgency, sabotage, banditry and terrorism. mHe faces life imprisonment if convicted from the charges. The state alleges that it has e-mail correspondence and confessions it obtained through torture from gun dealer Peter Michael Hitschmann that it wants to use as part of evidence against Bennett. The trial has been postponed several times since last year when some witnesses failed to turn-up and the paperwork by the State was said to be in shambles.
A key ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Bennett was arrested in February 2008 at the Charles Prince Airport in Harare on the day he was due to be sworn in to a coalition government formed by the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change and President Robert Mugabes Zanu (PF) party. Mugabe insists that he will not swear Bennett into office because he was facing serious charges, although observers here accuse the veteran leader of bias after he had sworn in several officials from his own party who also face criminal charges.