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Asylum bid is a bonus for Mugabe
Business Day (South Africa)
April 24, 2006

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A189790

ZIMBABWEAN opposition MP Roy Bennett's application for asylum in SA was a victory for President Robert Mugabe and ruling party Zanu (PF), a newspaper said at the weekend.

The New Zimbabwean said the Harare regime would benefit from the exit of the political veteran as the move would weaken the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Bennett's family has confirmed his asylum application on the grounds that his life was in danger from state security forces.

He fled Zimbabwe in March after reports of the finding of an arms cache led to accusations from the state that the MDC was planning a coup. Charges against all accused have since been dropped for lack of evidence.

Bennett is living in SA after the state-run Zimbabwean Herald newspaper alleged he was linked through the discovery of the arms cache to a plot to topple Mugabe's Zanu-PF government.

Bennett's Gauteng legal consultant, Danie Fourie, said Bennett had applied for asylum through Lawyers for Human Rights, backed by Amnesty International, and that he was safe. Bennett would not be available for comment.

Bennett has long taken the brunt of the distain of the ruling Zanu (PF) party for the parliamentary opposition .

On April 9 2004 Bennett was evicted from his farm in the Chimanimani district in defiance of court orders prohibiting acquisition of the farm by the state.

He was subjected to humiliation and suffering during a year-long prison sentence in 2004 after an incident in May that year when he pushed Justice, Parliament and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa to the floor during a heated exchange. Chinamasa had referred to Bennett's father and grandfather as "thieves and murderers". With Sapa

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