Ruling on Biti assault case deferred to next week

Harare magistrate Vongai Guwuriro has deferred ruling on opposition politician Tendai Biti's assault case to February 26.

The magistrate told the court she could not deliver the ruling Thursday as initially planned because she received the parties' closing submissions late.Biti has denied the charge and accused the State of politicising the case.

The three-year-long trial which was punctuated with drama concluded last month, with the State accusing Biti of filing several 'frivolous' applications to delay the process.

Biti accused several people including ruling Zanu-PF party politicians, the media, and court officials of trampling on his rights.

Three witnesses testified in the matter and all corroborated their evidence that they saw him charging towards the complainant, threatening to assault her.

One of the witnesses, Michael Van Blerk told the court he rushed and stood between the complainant and Biti after the latter charged toward the complainant.

But Biti denied the allegations saying there was no way he could have pointed a threatening finger at the complainant as he was carrying huge documents on both hands.