The charge of treason against two opposition leaders has sparked a furious response from the international community, writes Declan Walsh
Two senior Zimbabwean opposition figures were charged with treason yesterday, one day after their leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, was also accused of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe.
The move sparked a furious response from the international community, which said it was further evidence that Mr Mugabe intends to rig the forthcoming presidential elections.
Harare police questioned the secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Prof Welshman Ncube, and the party's shadow agriculture minister, Mr Renson Gasela, for two hours before pressing treason charges and then releasing them.
The same allegations were made against the MDC leader, Mr Tsvangirai, by detectives on Monday. He has vowed to continue with his plans to contest the presidential election on March 9th and 10th regardless.
The treason charges are based on videotape evidence that purports to show that Mr Tsvangirai suggested "eliminating" President Mugabe at a recent meeting in Canada.
With a strong lead in the opinion polls the former trade unionist represents the most potent challenge yet to Mr Mugabe's 22- year rule. He admits attending the meeting but claims he was set up.
According to reports, the Canadian public relations firm behind the tapes, Dickens and Madson, once worked for Mr Mugabe.
The charges are "jacked up", New Zealand's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Phil Goff, said. "This is a government that is absolutely desperate to retain power," he told Radio New Zealand. Australia threatened sanctions if Mr Tsvangirai is prevented from contesting the elections.
Treason carries the death penalty in Zimbabwe. However, it appears unlikely, that the MDC leader will be arrested before polling day, a move that could spark massive and violent unrest.
Instead, analysts said the government was using the allegations to disorientate and discredit the opposition, particularly in the eyes of the majority rural population.
The assassination tapes were part of a "tidal wave of propaganda", said the Zimbabwe Media Monitoring Project.
On state radio and television - the only broadcast media available to the rural population - Mr Mugabe is presented as a liberation hero while Mr Tsvangirai is a "terrorist" and "tea boy" for white Zimbabweans and European powers.
"People who don't have alternative sources of information are likely to tend to think there is some grain of truth in the charges," the project co-ordinator, Mr Andrew Moyse, said.
The political temperature is rising rapidly in Zimbabwe. In recent weeks the government has stepped up its campaign to gain absolute control of the election process.
New, draconian legislation has been used to ban several MDC rallies and some international news organisations, including the BBC, have been prevented from entering the country.
An EU election monitoring team was forced to leave while civil servants and army officers have been appointed to supervise the poll.
Mugabe supporters have violently disrupted opposition meetings, often in full view of the police who, in one instance last week, fired on a motorcade carrying Mr Tsvangirai.
According to a civic activist, Mr Lovemore Madhuku: "The charges are an act of desperation. If they were convinced of winning the election, they would not do this."