Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Acquitted of Treason Charge

Leading opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was acquitted of treason charges Friday in a surprise court ruling in a nation whose longtime president has been widely accused of crushing dissent.

But even as he expressed relief, Tsvangirai, who was arrested two years ago, warned that it was premature to celebrate in the face of what he called continuing repression and abuse by President Robert Mugabe’s government.

Tsvangirai, who could have been sentenced to death if convicted by the High Court of plotting to kill Mugabe, faces another treason charge next month, related to his role in organizing national demonstrations last year. The government criticized Tsvangirai’s acquittal and suggested it might appeal.

On a tense morning, two fighter planes flew low over the city and security was heavy, with commuters being detained and searched. Police dispersed opposition supporters near the courtroom and fired tear gas at people celebrating the verdict outside the headquarters of Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change.

At least 20 people were arrested, but exact figures were not available. Many analysts said they believed the 18-month trial had crippled the effectiveness of the MDC, with legislative elections due by next April.

“We feel relieved,” Tsvangirai told supporters after the decision. “I think it is unexpected because of the political environment in which we operate. But we cannot celebrate yet because the political environment is neither improved nor are there any signs of improvement.”

The 52-year-old former union leader said the decision surprised him. “I was always hoping for the best, but always prepared for the worst,” he said.

Mugabe, 80, still admired in parts of Africa for liberating his country from colonial rule, has been in power for 24 years, and is accused by the opposition of rigging presidential elections in 2002.

He is increasingly unpopular in his own country, where critics complain of repressive rule and a tightly controlled media. Mugabe has presided over a catastrophic decline in the economy with inflation over 300%, half the population unemployed and widespread hunger.

In the weeks before the 2002 election, Tsvangirai was accused of hiring a Canada-based political consultant, Ari Ben-Menashe, to kill Mugabe and stage a coup. The main prosecution evidence consisted of recordings of a 2001 meeting between the two in which Tsvangirai referred to Mugabe’s “elimination” -- a reference, the defense argued, to hopes the president might be persuaded to retire before the 2002 election.

Judge Paddington Garwe declared Friday that the prosecution had failed to prove a conspiracy to assassinate Mugabe, and described Ben-Menashe as “rude, unreliable ... and contemptuous.”

“There is no evidence either on the videotape or the audiotape that can be relied on,” he said, concluding that no request for an assassination was made.

Tsvangirai’s lawyer, George Bizos, who defended former South African President Nelson Mandela when he faced similar charges under the apartheid government, said he hoped other judges and magistrates would follow Friday’s ruling and deliver justice.

“Justice is under stress here, but the worst thing would be to abandon the rule of law,” he said.

But Adotei Akwei, Africa advocacy director with Amnesty International’s Washington office, said the verdict did not indicate renewed judicial independence in Zimbabwe.

“One possible interpretation is that it’s a last gasp of energy there based on a rejection of a case that was not credible from the start,” he said in a phone interview. “If one were to look at it in a more cynical fashion, one could argue that the government basically decided that it was better to keep Mr. Tsvangirai, to prevent him from becoming a martyr or to prevent him from becoming a political prisoner ...

“This will be used by the Mugabe government to argue that the rule of law is alive and well in Zimbabwe and that elections are going to be conducted in free and fair conditions,” Akwei said.

Amnesty International on Thursday released a report highly critical of the government, accusing it of underplaying the nation’s food crisis and saying it had a history of denying food to opposition supporters. “The government has used the food shortages for political purposes and to punish political opponents,” the report says.

Times staff writer Dixon reported from Johannesburg and special correspondent Thornycroft from Harare.