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Zim jailed MP remains in jail
10/03/2005 22:25 - (SA)
Harare - Jailed Zimbabwean opposition lawmaker Roy Bennett lost a court bid on Thursday to win his release on the eve of this month's parliamentary elections.
Bennett, one of three white Zimbabweans who hold seats in parliament, is serving a one-year prison term for shoving the justice minister during a heated debate in parliament in May last year.
In an urgent application filed by his lawyer before the Harare high court, Bennett argued that "the sentence can only remain valid during the life of the current parliament which ends on March 30".
President Robert Mugabe ordered the dissolution of parliament on March 30, on the eve of parliamentary elections that will see the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) face off with the ruling Zanu-PF party.
Bennett's lawyers also argued that the commercial farmer and leading MDC member was eligible for a reduced sentence for good behaviour.
But High Court Judge Bharat Patel dismissed both arguments, saying Bennett "may be granted but is not entitled, as of right, to one third of remission of his sentence."
The section of the law he was charged under did not provide for the termination of his prison term upon dissolution of parliament, Patel said.
Bennett's wife Heather is to represent her husband on the MDC ticket in his constituency of Chimanimani in eastern Zimbabwe for the March 31 vote.
Bennett's fellow members of parliament sentenced him to one-year in prison in May after he lost his temper during a debate and pushed Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa to the floor.
The brawl broke out after Chinamasa said Bennett's ancestors were "thieves" who had stolen land as settlers.
Fifty-three members in the parliament dominated by the ruling party voted for a jail term while 52 voted against.
Under Zimbabwean law, parliament has the authority to sit as a court and impose penalties.
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