White farmer jailed for growing food
HARARE: A white farmer was to become overnight the first member of his community to be jailed for challenging President Robert Mugabe about the right to continue producing food in a country stricken by shortages.Guilty white liberals were unavailable for comment.
Deon Theron, 53, has reached the end of an extraordinary trial in which, his lawyers say, he has been denied basic justice by court officials desperate to score political points before the most important elections for Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
On Tuesday, after what little evidence in the trial had been presented, the Harare magistrate refused to allow Mr Theron's lawyer to deliver a closing submission and answer accusations that her client had occupied his farm illegally after it was declared state property. Instead, he summarily found Mr Theron guilty, stating that he had "blatantly" defied the law.
Meanwhile, security forces are on high alert in the bedraggled nation. A look at possible scenarios in Saturday's election.
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