US embassy cable - 03HARARE1805

UNCLAS HARARE 001805 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E. O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, SOCI, ZI, MDC 
SUBJECT: Tsvangirai Treason Trial Postponed Until 
September 22 
 
REF: HARARE 1598 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for internet posting. 
Protect accordingly. 
 
 1.  (SBU) Lawyers for Morgan Tsvangirai advised the 
Embassy on September 12 that by mutual agreement of the 
parties, resumption of Tsvangirai's treason trial was 
postponed from September 15 to September 22.  Presiding 
Justice Garwe approached the parties on September 11, 
noting that he had scheduling conflicts the following 
week and giving the parties the option of postponing, 
which the parties took. 
 
2.  (SBU) When the trial recommences, the first order of 
business will be a hearing on the prosecution's 
application seeking amendment of its indictment before 
Tsvangirai presents his case. In its application, the 
 
SIPDIS 
state admitted that the evidence that it had offered thus 
far differed from the particulars in the indictment.  The 
state is seeking to invoke a section of the Criminal 
Procedure and Evidence Act that allows a party to amend 
an indictment in order to correct discrepancies between 
the indictment and the evidence introduced at trial. 
During the trial, the prosecution introduced no evidence 
to prove that Tsvangirai specifically requested 
representatives of Dickens and Madson to arrange for the 
assassination of Robert Mugabe at a third meeting.  The 
state wishes to alter the indictment to show that no 
request was made at a third meeting. 
 
3.  (SBU) Defense attorneys will oppose the application 
but have yet to file a response.  Garwe is expected to 
hear the state's application on September 22, and will 
have the option of reserving judgment while the defense 
proceeds, or suspending the trial pending judgment.  In 
the latter case, a decision would likely be rendered and 
the trial resumed within a week, according to defense 
attorneys. 
 
4.  (SBU) COMMENT: The state's application to amend the 
indictment suggests the prosecution's doubts about the 
evidence's sufficiency to support a conviction.  In any 
event, the trial's broader political context suggests it 
likely will stretch out until at least the end of the 
year, as Tsvangirai suggested to us recently.  A 
conviction before December's Commonwealth Heads of 
Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja would upset 
Zimbabwe's prospects for having its Commonwealth 
suspension lifted and seems unlikely.  While an acquittal 
before that might be seen to enhance Zimbabwe's 
international image, the government may choose to string 
the case out as long as possible. A lengthy trial would 
absorb Tsvangirai's attention, potentially leaving 
substantive party leadership and involvement in possible 
inter-party talks increasingly to other MDC principals 
(e.g., MDC Secretary General Welshman Ncube) with whom 
the ruling party feels more comfortable.  It would 
further fit in with ZANU-PF's long-standing strategy of 
keeping the MDC on the defensive, requiring the 
opposition's time and resources to be devoted to 
harassing litigation instead of a more proactive agenda. 
Sullivan