HARARE - Zimbabwe's High Court on Monday acquitted former white farmer Roy Bennett, an ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, of terrorism charges in a ruling that may ease tensions in the country's fractious unity government. The charges against Bennett, treasurer-general of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had been a major source of conflict with President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's long-serving ruler. "The state has failed to prove its case," the judge told the court, as he dismissed the charges. "The accused is accordingly found not guilty." Bennett could have faced the death penalty if found guilty. Bennett welcomed his acquittal as evidence of independence within the judicial system of the southern African country, which has become a byword for cronyism and economic mismanagement over the last three decades under Mugabe. "I am very happy. This judgement gives hope that we are returning to justice and the rule of law," he told reporters after the ruling. Bennett was arrested in February last year while his MDC colleagues were being sworn in as ministers in the Mugabe-led coalition. He was formally accused of illegal possession of arms for purposes of committing terrorism, banditry and sabotage. The state's case - that Bennett planned to fund a 2006 plot to blow up a major communications link and assassinate key government officials - hinged on e-mails prosecutors said linked the former commercial farmer to the crime. However, the prosecution was dealt a blow when its chief witness, 49-year-old former policeman and arms dealer Peter Hitschmann, disowned the e-mails and denied Bennett was involved. Mugabe has refused to swear in Bennett until he is acquitted. The dispute is one of the issues being discussed by negotiators from Mugabe's ZANU-PF and MDC in talks mediated by South African President Jacob Zuma.
