The Zimbabwean opposition leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, arrived at the High Court yesterday to face charges of terrorism and sabotage. The charges could bar him from challenging President Robert Mugabe in elections next year.
Mr Tsvangirai is being prosecuted for telling supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in a speech last year that Mr Mugabe might be overthrown violently if he did not retire.
Judge Moses Chinhengo said he would rule this afternoon on an application by Mr Tsvangirai's lawyers to refer the case to the Supreme Court, where they would argue that their client's freedom of expression was guaranteed under the constitution.
"I am not guilty," Mr Tsvangirai told reporters as he arrived with lawyers and MDC officials. A small crowd of about 60 supporters cheered as he walked into the building.
The MDC said in a statement: "The ZANU-PF government and its leadership is guilty of causing terrorism against its people. They, instead of anyone else, should be tried for the crimes against their own people."
Mr Tsvangirai's trial will be critical to whether the former trade unionist, who has emerged as the biggest political threat to Mr Mugabe in his 21 years in power, will be able to run against him in presidential polls early next year.
The state will argue that Mr Tsvangirai contravened the terrorism provisions of the Law and Order Maintenance Act - devised by former Rhodesia's white minority rulers to suppress black opposition.
The government has in the past accused Mr Tsvangirai of attempting to overthrow a legitimately elected government. Mr Tsvangirai said on Saturday that the charges had been drawn up to prevent him challenging Mr Mugabe at the polls, which the government would do anything to win.
He faces a possible life sentence. Any prison term of more than six months will make him ineligible for nomination as a presidential candidate under Zimbabwean law.
Mr Tsvangirai led the MDC in tightly contested parliamentary elections last year which were marred by the death of at least 31 people, mainly MDC supporters, and the violent seizure of white-owned farm land by self-styled war veterans.