STEVENSON ATTACK TRIAL POSTPONED A MONTH

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000933 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/S FOR H.SERVIN-BAEZ SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2015 TAGS: ASEC PGOV PHUM PREL ZI SUBJECT: STEVENSON ATTACK TRIAL POSTPONED A MONTH REF: A. REF A: HARARE 918 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. REF B: HARARE 319 Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell for reasons 1.5 b/d ¶1. (U) The trial of six accused assailants of pro-Senate MDC MP Stevenson and four other pro-Senate faction officials convened on July 20. Magistrate William Bhila immediately postponed the case until August 23 so that prosecutors could amend the charges to include a seventh suspect arrested on July 17 (Ref A). Bhila also denied bail to this suspect along with the three other suspects arrested recently. Stevenson told post on July 20 that she could identify the last four suspects arrested as some of the attackers, including the woman who had stolen her mobile phone. ¶2. (C) Stevenson, however, acknowledged that she could not identify the first three suspects. The defense attorney for the first three suspects, Douglas Mwonzora, told us on July 20 that he believed the police had arrested his clients based on information from police informants, not the victims of the attack. Moreover, Mwonzora said that he had gathered information showing that "other people" were involved in the attack, which he would present once the trial resumed. Separately, the High Court on July 19 overturned Bhila's denial of bail for the initial three accused attackers. ¶3. (SBU) Also on July 20, the High Court granted bail for anti-Senate MDC MP for Mabvuku-Tafara Timothy Mubawu and another anti-Senate MDC official in the district who had been arrested earlier in the month for allegedly organizing the attack. Justifying the release, High Court Justice Charles Hungwe cited "gross misdirection" on behalf of Magistrate Faith Mushore who denied bail. Mubawu and his co-accused are due back in court on July 26 when the charges will be formally read. No trial date has yet been set. (N.B. A rare voice of independence in the judiciary, Hungwe is the same judge who withdrew charges against several MDC supporters that the GOZ attempted to link to the arms cache discovered earlier this year near Mutare (Ref B).) -------------- Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) The trial, at least for the initial three accused and possibly Mubawu, who have more apparent ties to Tsvangirai's faction of the MDC than the others arrested, appears to be a set-up. The repeated postponements and reversal of lower court bail decisions indicate that prosecutors are desperately searching for something to pin on the accused and failing. Regardless of the final verdict, the delays allow the GOZ to continue spinning the story for as long as possible to the detriment of the MDC. DELL