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Eight opponents charged with anti-Mugabe plot
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Eight opponents charged with anti-Mugabe plot
Zimbabwe prosecutors have accused eight people, including an opposition legislator, of seeking to assassinate President Robert Mugabe as part of a plot to destabilise the country, state media reported yesterday. The eight appeared in court in the eastern city of Mutare on Saturday and were charged with ?terrorism? following last week?sreported discovery of an arms cache, the state-run Sunday Mail said.Zimbabwe?s state media have said a total of 16 people werearrested in connection with the arms, which the Sunday Mail saidwere part of a plot ?to remove the democratically elected government of Zimbabwe from power through banditry.?
?The court heard that they had also targeted to kill President Mugabe and several other Zanu-PF officials during thecelebrations?, the newspaper said, adding that the alleged plotwas called off after one of the men was arrested on unrelated charges.
Analysts have expressed doubt about the accusations, saying they appear to be geared toward putting new pressure on the fractured opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which is already grappling with its own internal schism. A state prosecutor told the court that between 2001 and 2006, the eight held several meetings where they conspired to acquire weapons to overthrow Mugabe?s government.
Bennett, a former MDC legislator who served 8 months in prison for assaulting a government minister during a debate in parliament in 2004, is alleged to have visited several countries in the region soliciting for donations for the mission. He could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
Mugabe?s government last week said it would physically ?eliminate? political opponents seeking to overthrow it after reporting that officials had uncovered the arms. The weapons were hidden at Hitschmann?s home, who claimed tobe working for an organisation called the Zimbabwe FreedomMovement coordinated by Mutsekwa and Bennett, authorities said.
The MDC has denied involvement in any military plot against the government. It accuses Mugabe and his ruling party of a campaign to silence critics.
The eight will appear in court again on Wednesday where their lawyers, who complained the group was ill-treated by officials, will apply for their release.
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