HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai appears before the country's High Court on Monday to face terrorism and sabotage charges filed by the government of President Robert Mugabe.
Tsvangirai's trial will be critical to whether the former trade unionist, who has emerged as the biggest political threat to Mugabe in his 21 years in power, will be able to run against the Zimbabwean leader in presidential polls early next year.
The state will argue in court that Tsvangirai contravened the terrorist provisions of the country's Law and Order Maintenance Act -- devised by former Rhodesia's white minority rulers to suppress black opposition.
The government has charged Tsvangirai with attempting to overthrow a legitimately-elected government when he used a gathering of supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to call on Mugabe to resign or face being ousted by force.
Tsvangirai told Reuters in an interview Saturday that the charges were politically inspired to prevent him from challenging Mugabe at the polls and that the government would do anything to win the election.
"By fraud they would like to prevent me from contesting and for being the main competitor and main challenger to Mugabe. They realize I have built a credible base in the country and he stands no chance in a free and fair poll," Tsvangirai said.
"I don't believe that I was engaged in any sabotage or unpatriotic actions," he said.
Tsvangirai technically faces a life sentence but any prison term of more than six months will make him ineligible to run as a presidential candidate under Zimbabwean law.
Want to learn more? http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=world&Repository=WORLD_REP&RepositoryStoryID=%2Fnews%2FIDS%2FWorld%2FINTERNATIONAL-ZIMBABWE-OPPOSITION-DC_TXT.XML
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Tsvangirai's trial will be critical to whether the former trade unionist, who has emerged as the biggest political threat to Mugabe in his 21 years in power, will be able to run against the Zimbabwean leader in presidential polls early next year.
The state will argue in court that Tsvangirai contravened the terrorist provisions of the country's Law and Order Maintenance Act -- devised by former Rhodesia's white minority rulers to suppress black opposition.
The government has charged Tsvangirai with attempting to overthrow a legitimately-elected government when he used a gathering of supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to call on Mugabe to resign or face being ousted by force.
Tsvangirai told Reuters in an interview Saturday that the charges were politically inspired to prevent him from challenging Mugabe at the polls and that the government would do anything to win the election.
"By fraud they would like to prevent me from contesting and for being the main competitor and main challenger to Mugabe. They realize I have built a credible base in the country and he stands no chance in a free and fair poll," Tsvangirai said.
"I don't believe that I was engaged in any sabotage or unpatriotic actions," he said.
Tsvangirai technically faces a life sentence but any prison term of more than six months will make him ineligible to run as a presidential candidate under Zimbabwean law.
Want to learn more? http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=world&Repository=WORLD_REP&RepositoryStoryID=%2Fnews%2FIDS%2FWorld%2FINTERNATIONAL-ZIMBABWE-OPPOSITION-DC_TXT.XML
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