Steve Marks, Harare

The posters had started appearing at the usual places a few days before. In bold red and black they read, “Morgan Tsvangirai: on trial for our country .. High Court 10 am Friday October 15”.

By the morning of the judgment the tension was high. Armed riot police stood on corners and patrolled the streets in their open Landrovers.

They are rightly feared. In early October, Harare police attacked 30 women who had marched over 400 kilometers from Bulawayo. Led by Women of Zimbabwe Arise, they had been protesting a new bill which will outlaw human rights and “political” non-government organisations. Many other protests in recent months have been broken up in similar fashion.

The Movement for Democratic Change, a party which evolved out the trade union movement, and which Tsvangirai leads, is threatening to boycott the elections next March.

The MDC claims that trumped up charges, such as this treason trial for allegedly conspiring to kill President Robert Mugabe, intimidation, violence and rorting are how the ruling ZANU-PF party stays in power.

A guilty verdict for treason could put the opposition leader in jail for life, or even face the death penalty.

Innocent however, would embolden the democratic movement and potentially embarrass Mugabe.

Ten o'clock passes, we hear noises and look out the window. Groups of people are running and marching briskly, singing, blowing whistles and apparently playing cat and mouse with the police.

Tsvangirai has been acquitted.

In contrast to this exuberance, fighter planes from the Air Force scream overhead to show who is the boss.

From Green Left Weekly, October 27, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

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