Bhunu sues Bennett for US$1 million

There appears to be some confusion over whether the offending comments were made in an interview with the BBC or The Guardian, but lawyers confirmed the defamation suit centred on Bennett’s alleged claim that he would not get a fair trial because High Court Judge Chinembiri Bhunu had been given a farm by the state and would therefore be biased.

The judge actually ruled in Bennett’s favour, acquitting him of the charge of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe.

Bennett is alleged to have told the UK reporter: “The very judge that’s trying me is the owner of a farm that he’s been given through political patronage, that all the appointments have been done through the Ministry of Justice on a political basis. Basically, I should expect no mercy and fear for the worst.”

In the suit filed at the weekend, Bhunu’s lawyers claim that the alleged defamatory remarks were later reproduced by the internet-based Zimbabwe Guardian newspaper which they claim enjoys wide distribution on account of being available on the internet free of charge.

According to the judge’s lawyers, Bennett’s remarks were “wrongful and defamatory of Bhunu in that they were intended to convey and were understood by the readers to mean that the judge was not a fit and proper person to be a judge of the High Court and to preside over the trial of the former coffee farmer.

Disclosure of the defamation suit brings to an end speculation about the motives of police detectives who have in recent weeks been on a manhunt for Bennett, but had refused to say why they wanted to see the politician.

Acquitting Bennett of charges of treason and plotting terror, Bhunu said the state had failed to establish a prima facie case against the former legislator. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku recently reserved judgment on the appeal.

Police officers from Harare Central police station have treated Bennett as a renegade, hunting for him at his business premises and home, harassing and intimidating his family.