HARARE – The trial of MDC treasurer-general and deputy Agriculture minister-designate, Senator Roy Bennett resumed at the High Court with the State producing a video of its star witness Peter Michael Hitschmann.
In the video taken at Adams Army Barracks in Mutare, in March 2006, Hitschmann who was shown in leg irons was making indications to an assortment of arms that the State says were found in his custody.
The purpose of the video is to confirm to a statement that the State wants to use in the trail of Senator Bennett. The statement which Hitschmann disowns has incensed the Attorney-General, Johannes Tomana, to a point where he has started the process of impeaching its witness.
The statement is now in dispute with Senator Bennett’s lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa saying it should not be brought before the court as it was taken under unfriendly and traumatic conditions.
The State has alleged that Hitschmann was contradicting himself in court with earlier statements that he made while in detention at Adams Army Barracks in Mutare in 2006.
If impeached, the court would declare Hitschmann, a Mutare gun dealer, a hostile and an unreliable witness but this would weaken the State case substantially.
However, on Monday, Hitschmann denied any knowledge of six guns, which the State is using as exhibits. Hon. Bennett is facing banditry and terrorism charges arising from alleged offences said to have been committed in 2006. If convicted, he faces a life in jail.