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Judge frees MDC 'mastermind'
31/05/2007 18:00 - (SA)
Harare - A judge in Zimbabwe has freed on bail a senior opposition official accused of planning acts of terrorism, more than two months after he was arrested, it was reported on Thursday.
Ian Makone of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was freed on Wednesday on Z$150m bail, said the state-controlled Herald newspaper.
Makone, the MDC director of elections, was arrested in March in a raid on his home near Harare in which his wife was also seized.
Unconfirmed reports say Makone has been badly assaulted in police custody.
The authorities insist Makone was the mastermind behind a spate of petrol bomb attacks on police stations and supermarkets in March and April.
The attacks, which left several people injured, occurred shortly after police launched a vicious clampdown on the MDC, arresting party leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
The MDC has always denied it had any role in the bombings. Tsvangirai said last week they were the work of President Robert Mugabe's feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
Granting Makone bail, Judge Tedius Karwe imposed strict conditions. Makone must report to the police once a day and has had to surrender his passport and the title deeds to his properties.
"It is my considered view that the fact that allegations against the client are serious does not on its own amount to a good reason to deny him bail," said the judge in comments carried by the Herald.
Independent reports say the judge appeared sympathetic to Makone, calling him a well-educated man and insisting that Zimbabwean law presumes people to be innocent until proven guilty. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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