Zimbabwe court revokes bail on terror charges activist

A leading human rights activist and 15 other suspects were sent back to prison in Zimbabwe today on what are widely seen as trumped up charges of terrorism.

Jestina Mukoko appeared stunned at the ruling and stared from the dock at the magistrate, Catherine Chimanda. Mukoko's supporters burst into tears.

The defendants have said they were abducted by state security agents last year and tortured into confessing to a plot against the president, Robert Mugabe.

The Harare court's decision is likely to intensify tensions in Zimbabwe's power-sharing government between Mugabe and the prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, amid concerns that it has done little to improve human rights or win the release of political prisoners.

The suspects, who include several members of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), say they were beaten on the feet, subjected to simulated drownings, locked in freezers and hung by their wrists to extract the false confessions.

They had been free on bail for two months. Chimanda said today that she was sending them back to prison because a formal indictment had been filed a day earlier.

The indictment accuses Mukoko and the others of sabotage, terrorism and banditry. Chimanda scheduled the trial to start on 4 July.

A lawyer for the defence, Charles Kwaramba, said the suspects would file new bail applications. His colleague, the prominent human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, told journalists: "The law is being applied maliciously."

Neighbouring governments have said they believe that the terrorism allegations are baseless, and Mugabe's opponents say the charges were fabricated to justify a clampdown on dissent.

Before being granted bail on 2 March, Mukoko and the others had been held without charge since December at Chikurubi, a maximum-security prison outside Harare known for its harsh conditions.

On his first day in office in February, Tsvangirai gained access to the jail and visited Mukoko in an apparent attempt to assert his authority.

Mukoko testified during a bail hearing that she had been tortured and assaulted during detention, and the defendants were seen with bloodied and swollen faces during court appearances late last year. Two of the defendants ordered back to Chikurubi today were not in court because they were being treated at a hospital for injuries believed to have been sustained during their earlier detention.

Tsvangirai, who joined Mugabe in the unity government in February, had called for the release of Mukoko and other detainees to show Mugabe's commitment to the coalition. Mugabe has argued that such matters should be left to the courts. link...