Zim's Hitschmann denied bail
2007-02-06 18:26
Special Report
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party has pledged to trim the army and ensure a free society if it wins upcoming general elections.
Harare - Zimbabwe's highest court has dismissed a bail application by Michael Hitschmann, a security expert arrested last year on charges of illegally possessing weapons, news reports said on Tuesday.
Supreme Court Judge Elizabeth Gwaunza dismissed Hitschmann's application on Friday, saying it lacked merit, according to the official Herald newspaper.
Hitschmann, who has been in custody since March on charges of possessing weapons for acts of insurgency, has made a total of four attempts to secure bail, the paper said.
The security expert, who is also a former police reservist, was arrested along with several opposition officials and a member of parliament after police discovered what they claimed was an arms cache at Hitschmann's home in the eastern city of Mutare.
He and the opposition officials were accused of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. Charges were later dropped against the opposition members, and it later emerged that Hitschmann was a registered arms dealer.
Hitschmann's trial is now set to continue in March in the high court after he will have spent a year in custody.
- SAPA
