DEFENSE FILES FOR DISCHARGE - TSVANGIRAI TREASON

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