(20 Mar 2002)

1. Exterior of court house
2. Crowds waiting outside court
3. Tsvangirai leaving court
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Welshman Ncube, MDC deputy leader
"Self-evidently it is an attempt in effect to continually harassment of the MDC, to make it impossible... difficult for the leadership to organise this trial that we engaged in in resisting what is an illegitimate election process."
5. Cutaway
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Welshman Ncube, MDC deputy leader
"Well, a government of national unity was always out of the question, it is not on the table as far as we are concerned. We are not negotiating on those terms under any circumstances. You cannot negotiate a government of national unity with a government you believe to be illegitimate."
7. Set up Moyo
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe Information Minister
"What is the rule of law? Does the law mean that Morgan Tsvangirai is a law unto himself? The allegations of plotting to assassinate a head of state are very serious, very serious. Britain takes them seriously, America takes them seriously. We are not a banana republic, we also take them very seriously."
9. Newspaper headlines about the Commonwealth suspension
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe Information Minister
"It would be a tragedy to let that report go unchallenged. It is not a report worth relying on at all. It is an unfortunate report and, I repeat, it is a bad report leading to a bad decision for the Commonwealth because it will discredit the Commonwealth."
11. Cutaway Moyo's hands
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe Information Minister
"A government of national unity is not a government of national criminals. It is a government of national unity. We already have a government of national unity in our country.
13. Moyo walking away
14. Exterior of Zimbabwe Staff College
15. Moyo at podium
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe Information Minister
"Is it okay that the former colonial power funds an opposition which they have set up? Funds it - documented evidence - through the ruling party in Britain, the Labour Party of Tony Blair, funds the MDC to fight the ruling party through the Westminster Foundation. This presented at various forum... who have condemned it. The EU in January received officially, they have all been silent about it. The Commonwealth was aware of that. Silent about it. This report, which is supposed to be so decisive to lead to such decisive decisions, totally silent about it. And yet it talks about the level playing field."
17. Various of streets of Harare during strike

STORYLINE:

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was charged with treason on Wednesday in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate President Robert Mugabe.

Tsvangirai has denied the accusation, dismissing the charges as a government ploy devised to weaken the opposition.

He was summoned to the main Harare police station for fingerprinting.

He then reported to court, where a magistrate formally charged and released him on one and a half (M) million Zimbabwean dollars (27-thousand US dollars) bail.

He was ordered to surrender his passport and the deeds to property worth three (M) million Zimbabwean dollars (54-thousand dollars) and to report to police every week

Police had charged Tsvangirai with the same crime, carrying a possible death sentence or life imprisonment, before the March 9-11 elections.

Welshman Ncube, the third ranking opposition official, described Wednesday's court hearing as continuing government harassment of his party after the poll.












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