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Trial of MP arrested for calling Mugabe gay kicks off
12 Jan 2012 at 16:27hrs | Views
The trial of Lynette Karenyi Kore the MP for Chimanimani East who is facing charges of undermining the office of the President kicked off at the Mutare Magistrates' Courts.
Kore was arrested last December and held in custody for seven days after saying President Robert Mugabe had gay sex with another politician.
The state charged Lynette Karenyi, of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), with saying "Robert Mugabe, president of Zanu-PF, had homosexual relations" with another politician, according to the Herald newspaper.
"Karenyi is alleged to have insulted ... Mugabe, while addressing an MDC rally held on December 9 at Nhedziwa football grounds in Chimanimani."
She was granted bail but the State invoked the notorious Section 121 (3) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (Chapter 9:07), which denied her freedom for one week.
She was remanded in prison for one week and was only released after the Christmas holidays.
Mugabe, who is known for saying that gays and lesbians are "worse than pigs and dogs", last year labelled British Prime Minister David Cameron "satanic" for saying that countries that want aid from London must accept gays rights.
The MDC and Mugabe's Zanu-PF are in an uneasy government of national unity following disputed polls in 2008.
The MDC has accused the police of arresting their officials and supporters on trumped up charges to settle political scores.
The trial continues tomorrow.
Kore was arrested last December and held in custody for seven days after saying President Robert Mugabe had gay sex with another politician.
The state charged Lynette Karenyi, of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), with saying "Robert Mugabe, president of Zanu-PF, had homosexual relations" with another politician, according to the Herald newspaper.
"Karenyi is alleged to have insulted ... Mugabe, while addressing an MDC rally held on December 9 at Nhedziwa football grounds in Chimanimani."
She was granted bail but the State invoked the notorious Section 121 (3) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (Chapter 9:07), which denied her freedom for one week.
Mugabe, who is known for saying that gays and lesbians are "worse than pigs and dogs", last year labelled British Prime Minister David Cameron "satanic" for saying that countries that want aid from London must accept gays rights.
The MDC and Mugabe's Zanu-PF are in an uneasy government of national unity following disputed polls in 2008.
The MDC has accused the police of arresting their officials and supporters on trumped up charges to settle political scores.
The trial continues tomorrow.
Source - Byo24News
