- Title: ZIMBABWE: WIFE OF OPPOSITION LEADER NDABANINGI SITHOLE COMMENTS ON HIS ARREST .
- Date: 15th October 1995
- Summary: EXPECTED HARARE, ZIMBABWE (OCTOBER 15, 1995) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. TRACK PROFESSOR MASIPULA SITHOLE, BROTHER OF PRESIDENT OF ZIMBABWE'S OPPOSITION ZANU-NDONGA PARTY NDABANINGI SITHOLE, ENTERS HARARE CENTRAL POLICE STATION 0.14 2. MCU/CU POLICE INSPECTOR EDMUND KAHARI SAYING SITHOLE HELD AT HIGHLANDS AND MAY KEEP HIM THERE FOR ANOTHER 48 HOURS (ENGLISH) 0.45 3. SLV POLICE ENTERING POLICE STATION 0.54 4. SV/PAN INSIDE OF SITHOLE'S BEDROOM AFTER POLICE SEARCH 1.04 5. SV ANOTHER BEDROOM AFTER THE SEARCH, DISTURBED BELONGINGS 1.15 7. SV PANS, INTERIOR OF SITHOLE'S OFFICE AFTER SEARCH, BOOKS SCATTERED ON FLOOR 1.22 8. TRACK SITHOLE'S WIFE VESTA ARRIVING AT HIGHLANDS 1.39 9. SV VESTA SPEAKING SAYING THE CHARGES AGAINST HER HUSBAND ARE FALSE (ENGLISH) 2.00 SEQ.2: TRANSCRIPT; KAHARI: "WE HAVE TO CONFIRM THAT HE IS BEING HELD AT HIGHLANDS. THIS IS WHERE HE COULD BE DURING THE DAY. INITIALLY (HE WILL BE HERE FOR) 48 HOURS AND THEN THEY HAVE TO TAKE HIM TO COURT OR WE CAN HOLD HIM FOR 96 HOURS, THAT IS IF WE THINK IT IS NECESSARY TO DO SO." SEQ.9: TRANSCRIPT; VESTA:"THE LAWYER SAID NO YOU CAN'T INTERROGATE HIM ANYMORE BECAUSE YOU HAVE ALREADY ARRESTED HIM . HE IS WAITING TO GO TO COURT AND THAT'S WHERE HE CAN VOICE THE RIGHT TO KEEP QUIET. SO WHEN I LEFT I DON'T THINK THEY MANAGED TO TALK TO HIM, BUT HE DID SIGN A FORM TO DENY ALL THOSE CHARGES AND ALLEGATIONS" Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 30th October 1995 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: HARARE, ZIMBABWE
- City:
- Country: Zimbabwe
- Reuters ID: LVA2ID4OVHLJNLQUXUP9FWQQQ770
- Story Text: Zimbabwe human rights activists called on Sunday (October 15) for a speedy trial for veteran opposition leader Ndabaningi Sithole, accused by President Robert Mugabe of plotting to assassinate him and to stage a coup.
Authorities appeared to have moved Sithole from Highlands Police station to cells in Harare where he was in the custody of the Law and Order branch of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), a notorious unit which has often been been criticised by human rights organisations.
The opposition leader's brother, Professor Masipula Sithole, went from police station to police station in search of his brother and it seemed that by the end of the day, Sithole was being kept at Harare Central station so as to keep him away from journalists.
Sithole, 75, president of ZANU-Ndonga party, was arrested at dawn on Saturday and police said he would "help" their probe into a Mozambique-based Zimbabwe rebel group linked to the alleged plot.
Inspector Edmund Kahari said Sithole could be anywhere during the day but that he was staying at the Highlands police station at night. He also said that he may have to stay in police custody longer than expected.
Sithole's wife, Vesta, said the charges against her husband were false.
"These are trumped... Mugabe has a personal vendetta against him and ZANU-PF (Mugabe's ruling party) is pursuing this grudge and I find that very unfair," she said.
Police and government officials have refused to comment on the case, which some political analysts suspect may be the result of ZANU-PF's efforts to destroy the last remnants of a weak political opposition.
Sithole's right-wing party has two seats in a 150-member parliament in which ZANU-PF controls the remaining 148.
Sithole has been Mugabe's arch-rival since 1963 when the two vied for the presidency of ZANU-PF at its formation. Sithole won that contest and Mugabe became secretary-general of the party but took over its leadership in the mid-1970s after accusing Sithole of abandoning the struggle and "selling out to whites" during the guerrilla war against then-Rhodesia's white rulers.
The law allows the state to detain people accused of treason while investigations are going on but says they must be brought to court "within a reasonable time".
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