US embassy cable - 03HARARE259

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000259 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR CGURNEY 
PARIS FOR CNEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINR, ASEC, ZI 
SUBJECT: TREASON TRIAL OF MDC PRESIDENT ENTERS THIRD DAY 
 
REF: HARARE 230 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL SECTION CHIEF MATT HARRINGTON.  REASONS: 1.5 ( 
B) AND (D). 
 
Trial proceeds slowly 
---------------------- 
 
1. (U) The treason trial of three Movement for Democratic 
Change (MDC) leaders -- President Morgan Tsvangirai, 
Secretary-General Welshman Ncube, and Member of Parliament 
 
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Renson Gasela -- began as scheduled in Zimbabwe's High Court 
on February 3 and is now in its third day on February 5.  On 
the first day, GOZ deputy attorney-general Bharat Patel 
summarized the state's case, which is that the three MDC 
leaders hired a Canadian political consulting firm -- Dickens 
and Madson -- to arrange the assassination of President 
Mugabe.  Patel indicated that state witnesses would include, 
inter alia, Dickens and Madson director Ari Ben-Menashe, Air 
Force Commander Perence Shiri, and Central Intelligence 
Director Happyton Bonyongwe.    In his summary, the lead 
counsel for the accused -- renowned South African attorney 
George Bizos -- emphasized that his clients belong to a 
political party which is committed to the rule of law and to 
the achievement of change via a constitutional process and 
declared that the charges had been filed to discredit and 
embarrass the accused.  Bizos acknowledged that Tsvangirai 
had met with Ben-Menashe, but said he had done so at the 
request of Dickens and Madson, which had pressed the MDC 
President to enter into a political consultancy arrangement. 
 
Ari Ben-Menashe 
--------------- 
 
2. (C) The second and third days of the trial (February 4 and 
5) have been consumed by the state's questioning of its star 
witness, Ari Ben-Menashe and examination of the infamous 
videotape, in which the "elimination" of President Mugabe was 
allegedly discussed.  The prosecutor walked Ben-Menashe 
through how he was introduced to Tsvangirai and his MDC 
colleagues, and what was discussed at each of their meetings. 
 Ben-Menashe claimed that it was the MDC who sought a 
relationship with his company and that it was Tsvangirai who 
asked for his company's help in arranging the assassination 
of Mugabe.   Ben-Menashe did admit to signing a contract with 
the GOZ for provision of consultancy services, but only in 
January 2002, after the videotape of his final meeting with 
Tsvangirai was made.  He said the government had agreed to 
 
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pay him U.S. $1,000,000 for his services and had disbursed 
only about U.S.$400,000 of that sum to date.   Ben-Menashe 
claimed that he had informed the U.S. Government of the plot. 
 
 
3.  (C) The prosecution spent half of February 4 and all of 
February 5 eliciting Ben-Menashe's commentary -- in agonizing 
detail -- on the grainy videotape of the fateful meeting. 
Much of what is said on the videotape is unintelligible, and 
it is impossible to make out most of the faces of those who 
attended the meeting.   (Comment:  Ben-Menashe has appeared 
to be reading from a ZANU-PF script -- his testimony was 
sprinkled with such familiar phrases as "the MDC represents 
its masters, the UK government and white Rhodesians," and 
"Tony Blair's imperialism."  Ben-Menashe came across mostly 
as an unprincipled buffoon, and his testimony regularly 
elicited derisive laughter or whistling from the crowd.  End 
Comment.) 
 
4.  (C)  Ben-Menashe has stated that he plans to depart 
Zimbabwe on February 7, but the presiding judge -- Paddington 
Garwe -- has not indicated whether he will permit this.  The 
MDC is planning to cross-examine Ben-Menashe for up to two 
weeks, and his departure on Friday would provide only a day 
for cross-examine.  In a conversation with us, Bizos called 
Ben-Menashe "a cross-examiner's dream," and said his early 
departure would seriously prejudice the defense's case. 
 
Access problems 
--------------- 
 
5.  (U) Obtaining access to the courtroom was much smoother 
after the chaotic first day of the trial, when large numbers 
of journalists, diplomats, MDC officials, and members of the 
general public were denied entry.  On the second and third 
days, police presence for blocks around remained heavy, but 
all interested diplomats were admitted, along with a number 
of international journalists -- AP, Reuters, The Guardian, 
and stringers for a number of international news services. 
Each day, the GOZ has packed a number of seats with security 
service members while continuing to restrict access by 
members of the general public. 
 
 
SULLIVAN