(TALKZIMBABWE) Biti faces treason charges
Biti faces treason chargesFloyd Nkomo
Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:26:00 +0000
MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti faces treason charges
THE Secretary General of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Tendai Biti, will be charged with treason and faces a possible death sentence if convicted, according to a ort by the police today.
Police spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena issued a statement saying: "We are charging him with treason and communicating and publishing false statements prejudicial to the state. For the treason charge he faces the death penalty or life in prison.”
He added: “Biti is in police custody and we are still investigating the matter.”
The treason charge relates to an MDC-T transition document which was alleged to have been penned by Biti and which discussed changing Zimbabwe's government.
"He will be charged with contravening Section 20 of the criminal law codification for publishing a document that was explaining a transitional strategy around March 26 which in its case is a treasonous charge," he said.
The opposition MDC-T party dismissed the document as a forgery.
US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee said he had seen the original MDC-T's transition document which he described as a routine plan for any political party.
He added that the “forged version had circulated that raised issues not contained in the genuine document.”
McGee called on Zimbabwe's neighbors to intervene saying the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) should send more observers to ensure peace before and during the vote.
The second charge refers to accusations that Biti announced election results before the official count was released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). Bvudzijena said that Biti made false statements ‘prejudicial to the state’. Under Zimbabwean law, only the official body the ZEC is mandated to announce results.
Prior to the March 29 harmonized election Zimbabwe’s service chiefs had issued a chilling warning against the announcement of results by anyone not mandated to do so.
They said that they were “not going to allow a situation where individuals arrogate themselves the role of election officials and announce themselves winners at any stage of the electoral process.”
They added: “The authority of counting votes and announcing the winners is vested in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in accordance with law. We warn anyone of such inclination that we will not tolerate any such pronouncements as they have the effect of trying to take the law into their own hands thereby fomenting disorder and mayhem. Everyone is therefore advised to follow the law.”
The police commissioner said Biti was in police custody, but did not reveal where he was being held. Biti will be charged "as soon as we are through with our investigation," said Bvudzijena.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai who was detained earlier this afternoon by police while on his campaign trail has been released.
Tsvangirai was detained at a roadblock near the central town of Kwekwe on the way to an election rally.
Labels: TENDAI BITI, TREASON, ZIMBABWE
posted by MrK @ 9:36 PM
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