Zimbabwean Opposition Leader Seen In Court

Is Charged With Treason For Declaring Mugabe's Opponent Winner of March 29 Election

(AP)  Police brought the No. 2 leader of Zimbabwe's opposition political party to court Saturday, but only after a judge ordered them to do so a second time.

Reporters watched as Tendai Biti, handcuffed and appearing tense, was brought into Justice Ben Hlatshwayo's court. Biti said he was "fine" when reporters asked how he was.

Police have said they will charge Biti, who is secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change, with treason - a charge that can carry the death penalty.

Party spokesman Nqobizitha Mlilo called the allegation against Biti "politically motivated" on Saturday, less then two weeks before the opposition party's leader faces longtime ruler Robert Mugabe in a presidential runoff.

Mlilo said Biti's lawyers had no opportunity to speak with him Saturday, the first time they have seen him since he was arrested Thursday upon returning to Zimbabwe from neighboring South Africa Thursday. Police had refused to say where he was being held.

Police showed Hlatshwayo an arrest warrant they said a lower court judge had issued earlier this month as justification for holding Biti, Mlilo said. Hlatshwayo said police should bring Biti before the lower court judge Monday and allowed them to return him to jail.

Earlier, police had told Hlatshwayo they were not sure his order to produce Biti, issued in response to an opposition request a day earlier, was genuine, according to opposition lawyer Lewis Uriri. Hlatshwayo then gave police an hour to produce Biti.

Biti's arrest adds to concerns the June 27 runoff will not be free and fair after a campaign that has seen brutal attacks on opposition supporters, arrests of key opposition figures and repeated interruptions of Movement for Democratic Change president Morgan Tsvangirai's attempts to campaign.

On Saturday, the opposition said in a statement that Tsvangirai was again detained by police as he campaigned in rural Zimbabwe. He and 11 others on his campaign team were stopped at a road block and taken to a police station, where they were held for about five hours before being released, Mlilo said.

Police have typically stopped Tsvangirai at roadblocks as he attempted to reach rallies or small meetings with voters, then taken him to stations where he has been held for hours before being released.

"It is clearly impossible to talk about free and fair elections in Zimbabwe and to suggest otherwise is to be clearly blind to the grave harassment, intimidation and violence that the people of Zimbabwe have had to endure over the past few years," the party statement said, calling on Zimbabwe's neighbors to intervene.

Tsvangirai came in first in a field of four in the first round of presidential voting March 29. But, according to the official tally, he did not win the 50 percent plus one vote required to avoid a runoff.

In 2004, Tsvangirai was acquitted after a treason trial that lasted more than a year.

Police said the treason charge Biti faces stems from a transition document they claim was a blueprint for regime change. He is also accused of spreading false information for releasing the opposition's own tally from the first round of elections - under Zimbabwean law, only election officials can release results.

Tsvangirai said the police claims against Biti are "frivolous."

Besides being accused of orchestrating violence, Mugabe's government has in recent weeks been accused of using food as a political weapon. The government ordered independent aid agencies last week to stop work.

Mugabe has accused foreign aid agencies of working with the opposition to topple him, but the effect of the crackdown has been to make millions of hungry Zimbabweans even more dependent on his government, just as they are deciding whether to keep him in power.

U.S. officials said that last week security forces confiscated a large U.S. food donation intended for children and gave it to Mugabe supporters in a country where economic collapse has left many people struggling to feed themselves.

Mugabe, Zimbabwe's head of government since 1980, was lauded early in his rule for campaigning for racial reconciliation and building the economy. But in recent years, he has been accused of ruining the economy and holding onto power through fraud and intimidation.

[milesbrown49]

I think terrorislami has let us on to the fact that he hasn''t taken his medication today!! No validity in his "rash" statements!!

[milesbrown49]

Gas, Inflation, unemployment.... I thought you was talking about the US. Mugabe''s doing better than Bush. At least he is trying to clean up a mess that was already there from the colonist. Bush came into a clean house and messed it up!!!

[terrorislami]

HUSSEIN IS SOFT ON FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

HELL HIS KENYAN FAMILY AND TRIBE ARE FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

Obama''s Cousin Charged With Ethnic Cleansing

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-obamas-cousin-charged-with-ethnic.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7192958.stm

Obama''s relative linked to Ethnic Cleansing in Kenya

http://libertarianrepublican.blogspot.com/2008/02/obamas-relative-linked-to-ethnic.html

Signs in Kenya That Killings Were Planned

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1957451/posts

Ten Obvious Reasons Why Islam is NOT a Religion of Peace

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Top-10-Reasons.htm

Kenya Muslim Violence Pictorial *Warning Graphic*

Africa, Kenya, Muslims%u2026nothing more needs to be said%u2026
http://patdollard.com/2008/01/kenya-muslim-violence-pictorial-warning-graphic/

The Kenyan jihad
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/433766/the-kenyan-jihad.thtml

nothing new,,, more radical muslims ethnically cleansing non-muslims

19 Burned to Death in Violence in Kenya
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960644/posts

[terrorislami]

HUSSEIN IS SOFT ON FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

HELL HIS KENYAN FAMILY AND TRIBE ARE FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

Obama Sides With Radical Islamists

The magnitude of difference between the two candidates running in our presidential election could not be more stark! After reading the statements of both Obama and McCain regarding the horrible Supreme Court 5-4 decision to allow Gitmo detainees the right to be tried in civilian courts, we can clearly see what a flawed, unfortunate, and terrible direction Obama would take this country if [God forbid!!]elected in November.

Obama''s statement:

Barack Obama statement on the Supreme Court''s 5-4 decision today extending civilian legal protections to terrorist suspects held in Guantanamo Bay:

Um...er...earth to Obama? Foreign terrorists caught in battle against our forces during war have never been eligible for "habeas corpus"! They are not covered by the Constitution of the United States of America. So...what "rule of law" are you referring to?
http://talkwisdom.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-sides-with-radical-islamists.html

[terrorislami]

Posted by RickNuber at 05:55 PM : Jun 14, 2008

Mugabe%u2019s Muslim Thugs Raid Christian Offices

Well, let%u2019s see; Zimbabwe%u2019s Muslim President, Robert Mugabe, has %u201Ccured AIDS,%u201D expelled ALL gayys, and now is cracking down on Christians%u2026 I smell genocide in the air%u2026

Zimbabwe Police Raid Christian Offices
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Police raided Zimbabwe Christian Alliance offices on Monday and arrested five staff members for interrogation, the group reported.

Faced with the very real prospect of losing power, the 84-year-old Mugabe and his party the Zanu-PF party has resorted to violence, including an alleged plan to assassinate Tsvangirai and other key leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Party.

Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe which was once dubbed the breadbasket of southern Africa, has spiraled into an economic meltdown that includes an unemployment rate of about 80 percent and inflation at more than 100,000 percent.
http://doctorbulldog.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/mugabes-muslim-thugs-raid-christian-offices/

[terrorislami]

Posted by RickNuber at 05:55 PM : Jun 14, 2008

Mugabe%u2019s Muslim Thugs Raid Christian Offices

Well, let%u2019s see; Zimbabwe%u2019s Muslim President, Robert Mugabe, has %u201Ccured AIDS,%u201D expelled ALL ***, and now is cracking down on Christians%u2026 I smell genocide in the air%u2026

Zimbabwe Police Raid Christian Offices
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Police raided Zimbabwe Christian Alliance offices on Monday and arrested five staff members for interrogation, the group reported.

Faced with the very real prospect of losing power, the 84-year-old Mugabe and his party the Zanu-PF party has resorted to violence, including an alleged plan to assassinate Tsvangirai and other key leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Party.

Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe which was once dubbed the breadbasket of southern Africa, has spiraled into an economic meltdown that includes an unemployment rate of about 80 percent and inflation at more than 100,000 percent.
http://doctorbulldog.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/mugabes-muslim-thugs-raid-christian-offices/

[terrorislami]

In fact, if the leftists truly want to walk a %u2018road to justice%u2019, they should leave the leading industrial nations alone and ask Muslims a few questions. Arabs, not European colonists or, better yet, Canada, whose Prime Minister Paul Martin was a particular target for Bono%u2019s impudent demands as well as direct insults, enslaved the blacks and made fortunes off the slave trade. But, you see, those Arab countries are also %u2018struggling%u2019 and %u2018developing%u2019 (despite billions of oil dollars) and thus should not be held responsible for perpetrating one of the greatest human rights abuses ever to have happened on the African soil. This double racism, under which the presumption that the Muslim nations are somehow inferior turns out to be of advantage to them, has in fact helped Arabs to get off the hook with countless atrocities throughout history. They aren%u2019t held responsible now, they weren%u2019t held responsible when they slew hundreds of Jewish settlers in Palestine in the 1930s

[terrorislami]

And what about the jihadists? Does any leftist ever stop to consider how much of our money might be used to wage jihad fee sabeel Allah against us and our values, those very values that enable us to generate enough income to feed ourselves and, on top of that, help Africa? Somalia and Sudan have already been named hotbeds of terrorism. In Niger there%u2019s just been a push to integrate the Qur%u2019anic schools with their ideology of hatred, intolerance and thoughtless submission into the public education system. Already Islamic schools%u2019 students such as 10-year-old Haoua testify that %u201Ceveryone (they) know (go) to madrassa%u201D, which is quite illustrative of how pervasive the uncompromising Islamic education is. How can Africa be modernized when the financial aid we provide is being used to teach children, the future of Africa, a 1350-year-old set of rules? In the end, we might very well end up fuelling more hatred than sympathy with our own money.

[ricknuber]

"muslims slaughtering non-muslims,,, typical,,,"

Imbecile...you clearly have NO concept of what is really at work in Zimbabwe. Most of the people involved in both sides of this conflict are Catholic. So, you''d better change you statement to some blanket libel of Catholicism.

The conflict in Zim is one between political factions, irrespective of religion.

You callow liar.

[terrorislami]

muslims slaughtering non-muslims,,, typical,,,

just like kenya,,, husseins radical muslim luo tribe slaughtering non-muslims

hussein is for ethnic cleansing of non-muslims

Obama''s Cousin Charged With Ethnic Cleansing

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-obamas-cousin-charged-with-ethnic.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7192958.stm

Obama''s relative linked to Ethnic Cleansing in Kenya
http://libertarianrepublican.blogspot.com/2008/02/obamas-relative-linked-to-ethnic.html

Signs in Kenya That Killings Were Planned
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1957451/posts

Ten Obvious Reasons Why Islam is NOT a Religion of Peace
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Top-10-Reasons.htm

Kenya Muslim Violence Pictorial *Warning Graphic*

Africa, Kenya, Muslims%u2026nothing more needs to be said%u2026
http://patdollard.com/2008/01/kenya-muslim-violence-pictorial-warning-graphic/

The Kenyan jihad
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/433766/the-kenyan-jihad.thtml

nothing new,,, more radical muslims ethnically cleansing non-muslims

19 Burned to Death in Violence in Kenya
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960644/posts

[downsteamjim]

Where is South Africa and other neighbors? They prop up this madman while their population murders Zimbabwe refugees.