ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe's high court has freed opposition leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai on bail, two weeks after his arrest on charges he sought to spark a revolt against President Robert Mugabe.
Mr Tsvangirai, who leads the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested on June 6th after a week of mass street protests led by the MDC that the government described as an attempted coup d'etat.
Overruling government objections, High Court Justice Susan Mavangira approved bail of 10 million Zimbabwe dollars (about US$5,500 at black market rates) and required the MDC to post a further surety of 100 million Zimbabwe dollars to secure Mr Tsvangirai's freedom.
As a further condition of his release, the veteran trade union leader will be barred from making any statements which could be construed as advocating the violent or unconstitutional removal of President Mugabe or his government.
Defence lawyer Mr Innocent Chagonda said that Mr Tsvangirai had paid up and returned home, ending almost two weeks spent in a Harare jail cell.
State lawyers had argued against bail, arguing that the MCD leader was likely to use his liberty to renew calls for a "final push" against President Mugabe.
But Judge Mavangira said the state had not made its case, drawing smiles and murmured congratulations in a courtroom filled with opposition supporters.
Mr Tsvangirai was not present when the decision was reached. He was appearing in another courtroom for a hearing in a separate treason trial, where he is accused of plotting to kill Mugabe.
MDC spokesman Mr Paul Themba Nyathi welcomed Mr Tsvangirai's release.
"The authorities deliberately set out to try and dehumanise and humiliated President Tsvangirai in the eyes of the people. They failed," Mr Themba Nyathi said.
Mr Tsvangirai now faces trial on two separate treason charges, either of which could bring a possible death sentence.
The MDC says Mugabe has stepped up political repression following his victory in a 2002 election that both the MDC and several Western nations say was rigged. Mugabe dismisses the MDC as a stooge of Western governments. - (Reuters)