US embassy cable - 05HARARE1105

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001105 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR L. MUNCEY 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2010 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, ZI, MDC 
SUBJECT: TSVANGIRAI,S SECOND TREASON TRIAL CHARGES WITHDRAWN 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Eric T. Schultz under Section 1.4 b/d 
 
1.  (U) The GOZ on August 2 dropped the remaining treason 
charge against MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai.  The latest 
charge stemmed from Tsvangirai's role in mass demonstrations 
against the ruling party in June 2003.  (Note: Prosecution on 
a first treason charge ended with Tsvangirai's acquittal in 
October.  End note.) 
 
2.  (C) Tsvangirai's attorney, Eric Matinenga, told us on 
August 3 that the state could still proceed against 
Tsvangirai by way of a separate summons.  Noting that the 
 
SIPDIS 
state's case was even weaker than the previous one, however, 
Mantinenga asserted that such an approach was highly 
unlikely.  He added that a gag order in place since 2003 
preventing Tsvangirai from saying certain things that could 
be perceived as undermining the GOZ's legitimacy expires with 
the case. 
 
3.  (C) Comment:  The dropping of the case may say more about 
the GOZ's shifting priorities than it does about the weakness 
of the case.  Whether the state was going to win these 
treason cases or not, the charges had long served the state's 
purposes by distracting and muzzling the opposition leader 
and depleting opposition coffers in legal costs.  With the 
March election "won", the next national election not 
scheduled until 2008, and the opposition in apparent 
disarray, national economic implosion is replacing political 
control as the ruling party's most immediate concern.  The 
regime seems increasingly aware that it will need 
international assistance to stem the country's myriad crises 
and is becoming more image-conscious as it wrestles with how 
to secure that assistance.  In this regard, the dropped 
charge may be part of the regime's nascent efforts to improve 
its image, particularly with an eye to ongoing loan 
negotiations with South Africa, discussions with the UN on 
food and displaced persons assistance, and the upcoming IMF 
expulsion vote. 
 
 
 
 
SCHULTZ