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Zim: I was framed, MDC leader tells Harare court

WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.

Original Post Date: 2004-01-22  Posted By: Jan

From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 1/22/2004 5:01:52 AM
Zim: I was framed, MDC leader tells Harare court

Harare – Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told his treason trial on Wednesday that he did, as alleged, discuss “eliminating” President Robert Mugabe but was trapped into using a word he only meant in a political sense.

Tsvangirai, who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has denied charges of plotting to kill Mugabe and stage a coup d’etat ahead of the country’s controversial 2002 general elections.

The state’s case against Tsvangirai, who could face a death sentence if convicted, hinges mainly on a videotape of a meeting he held with Canadian-based political consultant Ari Ben-Menashe where prosecutors say Mugabe’s “elimination” was discussed.

On his third day on the stand, Tsvangirai said Ben-Menashe had “trapped” him into discussing Mugabe’s elimination – but only in the political sense.

“I was using the word ‘elimination’ after it had been explained to me that it means the president would not participate in the elections,” he said. There were suggestions that Mugabe had accepted a plan for him to retire months before the March 2002 polls, he added.

The trial of Tsvangirai, a 51-year-old former trade unionist, comes against a background of worsening tension between Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party and opponents of his 24-year rule.

The MDC has emerged as the most potent challenge to Mugabe since independence from Britain in 1980, and went into the 2002 elections confident it was on the verge of winning office.

But Mugabe was eventually declared the victor, despite claims of vote-rigging and electoral fraud lodged by both the MDC and a number of international observers.

Tsvangirai, who also faces a separate treason trial on charges he sought to overthrow Mugabe through mass protests the MDC tried to stage last June, has called the current case against him a political frame-up.

The defence has labelled Ben-Menashe an unreliable witness.

On Wednesday, Tsvangirai dismissed Ben-Menashe’s testimony that he was desperate to kill Mugabe and to take power, saying he had only discussed how Zimbabwe’s army must be persuaded to revert to its professional role of bolstering democracy.

The opposition leader also denied he had ever approached airforce commander Perrence Shiri to discuss a coup, adding that even his meetings with Ben-Menashe were meant to advance the democratic process.

“The (videotape) record shows for itself that for a very long time I kept talking about the constitutional process,” he said.

Mugabe, 79, has called Tsvangirai a pawn of Western powers opposed to his policy of seizing white-owned farms to give to landless blacks.

Source: IOL
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&ar…br>