HARARE High Court Judge Chinembiri Bhunu will decide at the end of this month whether or not MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett Bennett faces a possible death penalty if found guilty of treason, but defence lawyers last Tuesday applied for discharge saying the state had failed to establish a prima facie case that their client plotted to murder Mugabe.
The prosecution led by Attorney General (AG) Johannes Tomana opposed the application for discharge insisting it had placed enough evidence before the court to prove that Bennett had case to answer.
Bhunu will rule on the matter on March 31.
The state alleges that Mutare-based gun dealer Peter Michael Hitschmann was given money by Bennett to buy weapons for use to assassinate Mugabe.
Prosecutors allege that Hitschmann implicated Bennett in 2006 when he was arrested after being found in possession of firearms, claims the gun dealer denies saying he was tortured into making the confessions during interrogation at a military barracks in March that year.
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