Minister prepares for next round in conspiracy saga

Barefoot at his front door, wearing faded shorts and a T-shirt, Roy Bennett looks tired. As well he might. Next week, instead of kicking off the New Year discharging a brief as Deputy Agriculture Minister in Zimbabwe's power-sharing Government, Bennett will be back in Harare's High Court, enduring a further instalment of a trial in which he faces life imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow the President, Robert Mugabe.

Under the draconian Public Order and Security Act, the former commercial farmer is accused of buying £3000 ($6680) worth of arms in 2006 to carry out acts of insurgency, sabotage, banditry or terrorism. The prosecution claims to have email evidence, along with a confession from Mike Hitschmann, a gun dealer and alleged conspirator, that Bennett bought the weapons to be used as part of an anti-government plot.

"It's complete nonsense," he said at his home in the capital where he is currently on bail. "I had seen Mike Hitschmann at political rallies, but I never bought a single gun from him.

"The court experience is a total nightmare. Sitting in that court every day, listening to people lying, is like one of those dreams where someone is trying to murder you but you can't defend yourself because your gun won't work." Amid no-shows by witnesses and chaos in the paperwork, no one knows when the trial will end.

Bennett, who is also treasurer-general of Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, was arrested last February, on the day he was due to be sworn in to the "inclusive" Government that the MDC had finally agreed to join following disputed elections. He is the tenth person to face treason charges since Mugabe came to power in 1980. But the fact that he is white, his political track record and the timing have given this trial a special significance.

Lawyers say the country's legal system - flawed as it is - should clear Bennett. Dubious witnesses, cobbled-together exhibits and the mysterious disappearance of evidence have marred the prosecution's case.

But if he is found guilty, the MDC could find itself at a dangerous crossroads. The secretive nature of the current round of talks between Morgan Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister, and the 85-year-old Mugabe has led to a growing restiveness among MDC supporters. A touchy-feely joint press conference just before Christmas left Zimbabweans feeling Tsvangirai was in danger of giving too much ground to his old foe. Diplomats are worried, too. "We are getting very few clear signals from the talks, and we are worried that some MDC ministers are being co-opted by Zanu-PF," said a European ambassador.

It is in that political context that Bennett's trial gives an insight into the workings of power in Zimbabwe. "The outcome of the trial is on the table of the political talks. Mugabe is dangling the danger of Bennett's conviction in front of the MDC as a threat. Mugabe has calculated that, if Bennett goes to jail, Tsvangirai will be considerably weakened in people's eyes," said John Makumbe of the University of Zimbabwe.

In 2000 Bennett became one of four whites to win parliamentary seats for the MDC. His Manicaland constituency had been staunchly Zanu-PF for 20 years. He quickly became a priority target for the ruling party.

The treason trial is based mainly on a controversial "confession" from Hitschmann, 49. Until 2006, when he was arrested, the former volunteer police officer held a formidable armoury on behalf of farmers who had fled the land invasions. He has been subpoenaed as a prosecution witness in Bennett's trial, despite emerging only in July 2009 from two years in jail after being convicted of illegal possession of firearms. The confession that incriminates Bennett was ruled invalid in Hitschmann's own trial because it was obtained under torture. Hitschmann says he will reveal the full extent of his mistreatment when he appears in court this month.

Bennett terribly regrets having "ruined" his family's life. "It has been awful for them. My son Charles, who is 24, had his room raided by strangers when he was 10 and he has not had a permanent home since then.

"They want to break you, and they get close. But I am not a politician. I cannot be corrupted or intimidated. I got into this to help people who now have hung their hats on the fact that I am committed to represent them honestly and fairly. If it was not for those people, I would have walked away from this thing long ago."

ONE MAN'S BATTLE WITH THE AUTHORITIES

* May 2000 Bennett's Charleswood estate is occupied for the first time; 800 cattle are taken.
* June 2000 wins seat for MDC by 11,410 votes against 8072.
* 2006 Mike Hitschmann is arrested. Bennett asks for asylum in South Africa.
* 2007 Hitschmann is jailed for two years.
* February 2009. After receiving assurances of his safety, Bennett returns. Morgan Tsvangirai gives him the job of Deputy Agriculture Minister. But Bennett arrested on arrival at airport.
* October 2009 Tsvangirai boycotts power-sharing government for a month in protest at charges against Bennett. Bennett released on bail.
* November 2009 Bennett's trial begins. It is due to resume on January 12.

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