Categories

Africa: Bennett’s lawyers dispute e-mail evidence

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: 2010-02-25 Time: 06:00:02  Posted By: News Poster

Harare – Lawyers for Zimbabwean politician Roy Bennett disputed on Wednesday a state witness’s evidence backing up e-mails linking Bennett to a terrorism plot, saying he was not qualified to declare their authenticity.

Bennett’s arrest and trial have raised tensions in the power-sharing government formed by President Robert Mugabe and his bitter rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Bennett, a close ally of Tsvangirai and who was nominated for the post of deputy agriculture minister in the new government, faces a death sentence if convicted. He denies the charges and says he is being persecuted by Mugabe’s party.

The State’s case – that Bennett planned to fund a 2006 plot to blow up a major communications link and assassinate key government officials – hinges on e-mails that prosecutors say link the former commercial farmer to the crime.
Continues Below ↓

Attorney general Johannes Tomana brought in an IT network technician to give evidence on the validity of the e-mails.

But under cross examination, the technician, Perekai Mutsetse, said he had not seen the original e-mails, and had only been shown printed documents by the police.

Bennett’s lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, who argued that anyone could have created the e-mails to implicate Bennett, said the witness had failed to prove that the e-mails were genuine.

“Since you did not see the original e-mails, you cannot vouch for their authenticity,” Mtetwa said.

Speaking through a translator, Mutsetse admitted to not conducting a forensic analysis to establish the authenticity of the e-mails.

“You have absolutely no expertise in the field you claim to be an expert,” Mtetwa said.

Bennett’s alleged co-conspirator, former policeman and arms trader Peter Hitschmann, has disowned the e-mails and denied Bennett was involved. Hitschmann faced the same charges as Bennett in 2006, but was convicted on a lesser charge of possessing dangerous weapons. – Reuters

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20100224162506180C621807