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"In the Hotseat" speaks to Roy Bennet
Violet Gonda, SW Radio Africa
June 28, 2005

Transcript of "The Hotseat" with Violet Gonda and Roy Bennett on the day of his release from prison, June 28th 2005

Violet: In the Hotseat today I'm speaking with the former MP for Chimanimani, Roy Bennett, who was released today, on Tuesday the 28th June after spending nine months in prison. Roy Bennett has lost time in prison, lost his parliamentary seat and also lost his commercial farm after it was taken by state sponsored thugs. The abuse did not end there as he was also subjected to abuse in prison. Here he is today to tell us his story. First of all, Mr Bennett, can you tell us how you are feeling now that you are a free man?

Roy: Very happy and very sad Violet. Very happy to be with my family and friends obviously, but very, very sad to leave the people behind in prison with the conditions that they have to contend with.

Violet: We'll come back to the conditions in prison. But first of all, did you think you were going to be released this early because I thought, we had understood, that the sentence was going to end in October?

Roy: What happens with the prison system in Zimbabwe, once a court convicts you the Prison Service then takes a third of the sentence off, which is kept in remission to assure of your good conduct in the prison. If you do anything inside the prison they then bring back that third and have the right to exercise bringing that third back into action. So, when I was put in prison back in October and I went for my interview with the Officer in Charge at the Central Prison, they told me then that I'd had four months removed from the sentence for remission, depending on my conduct, and that I would be released on the 28th June if I didn't break any prison rules or regulations during the time that I was in there.

Violet: When you were denied bail just a few weeks ago, did you think that you were going to be released today?

Roy: I never stopped thinking I was going to be released Violet because the law is very, very clear. Parliament never had the powers to sentence me to prison; through the constitution and through the Bill of Rights. I always was waiting for the constitutional challenge to take place because there was no doubt that I was committed to prison, parliament never had the powers to commit me to prison. And this was substantiated by the Attorney General, who is the chief legal advisor to the government who, when I went to hear the constitutional challenge, he had submitted that he agreed that I was imprisoned unconstitutionally, that the sentence was too severe and that the fact that it was done on political grounds, the whole thing should be made null and void. So in my heart of hearts the whole time, I knew that I was imprisoned not because of the laws of Zimbabwe but because of political victimisation.

Violet: And what about the life in prison. We know that conditions in jail are terrible for everyone. What aspects were the most difficult to deal with for you?

Roy: Violet you know I've seen many films on prisoners and prisons, I've read books on prisons. Let me tell you, the Zimbabwe prison today has got to be amongst the worst prison systems in the world. It is absolutely terrible. There has been no repairs and maintenance done to any of the ablutions, all the beds that were in the cells have been removed, the food is absolutely terrible because the government is going through an economic crisis they are unable to sustain their own prison regulations. You no longer get supplied with basic commodities like toothpaste or a toothbrush. The food is absolutely disgusting and is very, very little, so you are basically living in hunger the whole time. As of yesterday they started introducing one meal a day, you get a cup of porridge in the morning and then one meal of sadza a day, the mid-day meal you didn't get. So, you know, absolutely horrific Violet. Even more horrific are the conditions in which the prisoners are held, they are constantly beaten, they are constantly de-humanised. They are strip searched, have their clothing taken off them, forced to do star jumps when the gangs come in from work, are beaten, forced to squat on their haunches the whole time, and basically it's a whole process of taking away someone's dignity. The prisoners the whole time are made to feel that they are absolutely nothing. They are shouted at and spoken to. They are called the most horrific names, never ever once are they treated in a decent manner, they are treated like animals the whole time. So it's very, very, very degrading and very, very horrible Violet.

Violet: I understand that in some cases there are 70 people in a cell that's meant for six people?

Roy: The cell conditions are absolutely horrific, mostly overcrowded, unless sometimes there is a bit of a break. But most of the time they are fully overcrowded, prison cells which should hold basically say 8 people are filled with 20 people. The beds have all been removed so you can squeeze more people in lying on the floor. You get four blankets, you've got basically one blanket to lie on, because it's winter, you've got two blankets to cover yourself, and one blanket as a pillow. So you are constantly cold. We weren't allowed any jerseys, so you are basically wearing a canvas shirt and canvas pants with no underwear, so you are fully freezing the whole time.

Violet: Now, you were actually moved a couple of times from one prison to the other. Do you think you were singled out more than the others.

Roy: Oh, without a doubt Violet, my conditions were completely different to any of the others, and the whole time. The prison officers were absolutely petrified to be seen to be doing anything good for me and any time that orders came from above they had to jump around and act. Basically what happened when I was in Harare Prison, the Central Prison, I helped a few youngsters. Every prison system has got a way of getting information out of the prison and I was able to contact people outside to help pay people's fines and pay people's bails to get them out of prison. Once the authorities knew that what was what I was doing that was when I was transferred to Mutoko. When Pius Ncube and Morgan Tsvangirai came to visit me in Mutoko, immediately they had visited me, that was when I was then moved to Chikurubi Prison Farm. Each time it was just by myself, I mean a whole vehicle was committed to me with five or six guards just with me. So, Yes, my conditions were very different to any other prisoner. I was a B Class prisoner, which means I should have gone out to work in the gangs. Initially I was not allowed to go out to work, they treated me far differently to any other prisoners. When I first went in I got issued new clothing, as soon as I got to the cell they forced me to take it off, they gave me clothing that was full of lice and full of human excretement, they made me wear that. Basically just the full victimisation. Most of the time the guys are not happy doing that, but they had no other option and they live in absolute fear.

Violet: And what about the other prisoners? Did you have any problems with any of the other inmates.

Roy: Nothing whatsoever Violet. I was treated with absolute, absolute love and kindness by the other prisoners, and royalty. I mean you cannot believe how they all went out of their way to try and help me. You know they all came to me and said 'we know that you are suffering for us, so we are with you and you know, anyway we can help you', and they helped me all the time. I mean, they would come with bits of food, where they would find it from I wouldn't know. And the whole time they would tell me 'watch out for that guy he's bad, watch out for that guy, you know, don't take any food from him, he's what they call a 'meora', they sell out to the prison authorities. Absolutely wonderful Violet, and if anything has given me confidence in Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwean prison it is being in prison and mixing with those people who are absolutely destitute but so full of love and compassion and strength of comradarie you can't believe it.

Violet: We understand that some of them even went on a hunger strike when you were refused or denied food?

Roy: Yes that's right, that's correct. In Central I believe that's what happened, you know I wasn't party to it but I believe that's what happened.

Violet: And you know, in general how did you cope with all this that was happening to you in prison especially the treatment from or by the prison officers, how did you cope?

Roy: Basically Violet you know I relied on my faith, I prayed, I read my Bible. My faith is what pulled me through Violet?

Violet: Did you ever feel abandoned, because visitations and the number of people that could have come to visit you could not because visitations were limited. How did you feel about that?

Roy: I often felt very alone, I cried, I'm not ashamed to say, when my family came to visit me, you know when Heather would come and see me I would cry and feel very, very down and very alone. You don't know what's happening and what's going on out there. You feel that you've just been forgotten, it's very, very hard Violet. But again, through faith and through reading my Bible and praying, it actually gave me the strength to pull through.

Violet: And did you feel that your party stood by you, the MDC?

Roy: I felt very abandoned at one stage Violet because I heard nothing from them at one stage, but again, it wasn't their fault, it was just that the whole situation was prohibitive of them coming to see me.

Violet: And what about the people that sent you to jail? Do you harbour any feelings of resentment or any bad feelings.

Roy: Violet, you know, being in prison, under the conditions that I was , experiencing that abstract lack of hope and hopelessness of the people, I feel very, very sorry for the current government of Zimbabwe, and especially those like the Minister of Justice and the President, I pray every day for them. And I pray that they might find time to get on their knees and ask for forgiveness for the atrocities and the hardships that they have caused the people of Zimbabwe. Because, their judgement day is coming, and their judgement day will be for eternity. I feel nothing but sorry, I feel very sorry for them because when someone is consumed with hate, bitterness, anger and unforgiveness you reduce a country to what they have reduced Zimbabwe to; that is what hatred does. So Lord forbid that I would ever have any form of hatred in my heart. I have only love and I realise that we can bring our country right is through love and forgiveness and justice and righteousness, that is the only way that Zimbabwe is ever going to come right. You cannot, cannot, through hatred and vengeance reduce people to nothing by beating them, destroying their homes, terrorising them, it can't last for ever Violet. And I feel so, so, so sorry when I look at Patrick Chinamasa and I see him in parliament when he was delivering the speech that caused the fracas, and I see the hate in his face and the hate in his actions, I just feel very, very sorry for him and hopefully he comes to know Jesus Christ and hopefully he gets love in his heart and gets on his knees and prays for forgiveness for all the injustice he has caused.

Violet: Would you consider suing for wrongful arrest?

Roy: I would do whatever justice prevails. So all my legal affairs are in the very capable hands of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, and I take my advice from them. So, should that be the case, yes, definitely, I will follow justice, I will follow righteousness right to the end Violet. You know I've still got the outstanding of all my property that's been taken from me, there's the outstanding of two murders that took place on my farm, there's the outstanding of rape. These are all outstanding instances, that have to be finalised one day. Somebody has to be accountable for all those atrocities. I will never stop fighting for human rights, I will never stop fighting for righteousness, and I will never stop fighting for justice Violet.

Violet: That's exactly what I wanted to ask as my final question, that you are now out, you've lost time in prison, you've lost your farm, you've lost your seat as MP for Chimanimani, so what is next for you?

Roy: Violet I never lost my seat in Chimanimani; Heather never lost that seat. The whole rural election in Zimbabwe was rigged. The Voters' Roll is rigged. The people that ran those elections are political. So the people of Chimanimani have never stopped supporting me. We made a pact when I started; that I would stand by them if they stood by me. When I hear Heather's visits to Chimanimani, and her Rallies and her touring from there, it is absolutely humbling how those people have stood strong. They have had their homes destroyed, they have been killed, they have been raped, and still they stand strong. So with that sort of admiration and love that I hold for those people, I will continue fighting for their rights and a better life for them as long as there's a breath left in me and as long as they want me to do it. It has never been about me wanting to do anything, or I want to stand, or I want to do this. Whatever I have done, I have done on behalf of the people, and as long as they want me there and as long as they want me to represent them, I will represent them for righteousness, I will stand strong against this evil. I am not worried about dying Violet, I am not worried about death. In my heart I had righteousness, and those people matter more to me than anything. They are good, decent, honest people and all they need is a chance and a better life.

Violet: Thank you very much Mr Roy Bennett.

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