US embassy cable - 03HARARE1322

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001322 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
BANGKOK FOR WIN DAYTON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINR, ZI 
SUBJECT: DEFENSE FILES FOR DISCHARGE - TSVANGIRAI TREASON 
TRIAL WEEK FOURTEEN 
 
REF: A. HARARE 1256 
     B. HARARE 1149 
     C. HARARE 946 
     D. HARARE 568 
     E. HARARE 484 
     F. HARARE 360 
     G. HARARE 313 
     H. HARARE 250 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Audu Besmer for reasons 1.5 b/d 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
1. (C) The State closed its case and the Defense filed for 
discharge in the fourteenth week of Morgan Tsvangirai's 
(first) treason trial.  State witness Perence Shiri, Zimbabwe 
Air Force Commander, told the court that the MDC had 
requested his assistance in the event of the MDC winning the 
March 2002 presidential poll--but had not asked him to help 
overthrow Mugabe.  Three State witnesses, who served as 
transcribers, testified that the audio portion of the 
videotape was inaudible and that the tape supplied to at 
least one of them was not the original.  On legal grounds the 
defense's application for discharge appears solid; however, 
the judge could easily decide to continue this case, under 
pressure from the GOZ, as part of the GOZ's campaign to 
discredit opposition President Morgan Tsvangirai.  End 
Summary. 
 
Defense Files for Discharge 
--------------------------- 
 
2. (C) The State closed its case and the Defense filed for 
discharge in the fourteenth week of Morgan Tsvangirai's 
(first) treason trial.  According to defense attorney 
Innocent Chagonda, the defense argued in court on June 26 
that the State had not argued a case worthy to answer to. 
Judge Paddington Garwe adjourned the trial until July 7 to 
enable both sides to prepare their arguments pertaining to 
this motion. 
 
Air Force Commander Denies Coup Plot 
------------------------------------ 
 
3. (U) On June 23 State witness Perence Shiri, Zimbabwe Air 
Force Commander, told the court that the MDC had requested 
his assistance in the event of the MDC winning the March 2002 
presidential poll, and had offered him financial payment for 
such assistance.  This testimony contradicted earlier 
statements by witness Ari Ben Menashe that the MDC had asked 
Shiri to help engineer a coup against President Mugabe. 
 
Transcribers: Tape Inaudible 
---------------------------- 
 
4. (U) On June 24 and 25 the court heard testimony by three 
State witnesses who transcribed the video and audio tapes: 
government transcriber, Constantine Musango; state-run 
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Company (ZBC) television and 
broadcasting manager, Edward Chinhoyi; and Tineyi Nyawasha, 
Director of a Harare electronics equipment hiring company. 
Of the videotape, Musango said he told police that parts of 
the tape were inaudible, that it was not clear who was saying 
what because of the accents and background noise.  He said 
police told him to transcribe what he could hear.  Musango 
also said the tape supplied to him was a normal VHS tape, 
i.e. not the original mini-cassette. 
 
5. (C) Nyawasha also said that parts of the videotape were 
inaudible, and Chinhoyi testified that there was no evidence 
that the videotape had been tampered with.  The defense 
argued that there are a myriad of editing techniques that 
could have been employed to make some parts inaudible, some 
parts more audible, and to cut and paste sections of speech 
to attribute them to alternate speakers. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
 
6. (C) Yet again this week, the testimonies of State 
witnesses tended to support the defense's case more than the 
prosecution's--that there was no plot to assassinate Mugabe 
and engineer a coup, and the videotape was inaudible and not 
original.  On legal grounds the defense's application for 
discharge appears solid; however, the judge could easily 
decide to continue this case, under pressure from the GOZ, as 
part of the GOZ's campaign to discredit opposition President 
Morgan Tsvangirai.  End Comment. 
SULLIVAN