American wants Mugabe deposed for criminal case

President Robert Mugabe should be deposed in a Chicago criminal case when he travels to the US this month for a United Nations meeting, lawyers for a South Side businessman say.

Gregory Turner, 72, wants a federal judge to force the controversial African leader to give videotaped evidence in his defence.

Turner - who's due to stand trial on September 29 - is accused of illegally lobbying politicians, including US Reps Danny Davis and Bobby Rush, to lift sanctions against Mugabe and members of his ruling elite.

But Turner's lawyers wrote in a court filing that he won't have a fair trial unless US District Judge Elaine Bucklo orders Mugabe to give a deposition when he visits New York for a UN meeting later this month.

"If the government is truly interested in the pursuit of justice, it should welcome Mr. Mugabe's videotaped testimony," lawyer Michael Leonard wrote in the filing, describing Mugabe's role as "central" to the case.

It isn't the first time Turner's lawyers have tried to bring a major political name into the case.

Last week, they cited a meeting then US Sen. Joseph Biden had in 2006 with Gideon Gono, the former head of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, as evidence that Turner did not believe he was breaking any laws.

Gono was a subject of the same 2001 US sanctions as Mugabe when the vice president and other politicians met with him, Turner's lawyers say.

The attorneys want to present evidence at trial of an off-the-radar "welcome reception" in 2006 for  Gono.

Biden, who is now vice president, had co-sponsored the reception though he was one of the key sponsors of the sanctions legislation five years earlier, according to the defence filing.

Numerous members of the Congressional Black Caucus also attended the meeting in a reception room on the Senate side of the US Capitol to hear Gono speak about the effect of the sanctions on the people of Zimbabwe, the filing said.

No cameras were allowed at the function, but a "short video" was secretly made by one of the attendees, according to the filing.

"Biden is seen on video welcoming Gono … and shaking Gono's hand," the filing said.

News of the warm reception Gono received soon reached Turner, who at the time was in Zimbabwe working with a private organisation aimed at helping the people of the impoverished nation, according to the filing.

Turner's attorney, James Tunick, said the evidence would show that Turner "did not in any way act with intent to violate the law."

"Gregory Turner had been on the ground in Africa for humanitarian purposes for a long time," Tunick said.

"When the signal came from the US government and legislators that there might be a change to their position on sanctions, he had people come to Zimbabwe and see the effects of the sanctions."

But the bold attempt to force Mugabe to testify goes a step further.

Mugabe is not subject to the subpoena powers of the court unless and until he arrives in the US.

Previous attempts to detain him on foreign soil have not gone well.

British gay rights protestor Peter Tatchell was badly beaten by Mugabe's bodyguards in Brussels in 2001 after he attempted to perform a "citizen's arrest" on Mugabe.

The Zimbabwean embassy did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The US Attorney's office declined to comment.

Charges filed last year alleged that Turner illegally negotiated a $3,4 million deal to lobby for Mugabe.

Together with co-defendant Prince Asiel Ben Israel, 73, he allegedly flouted US sanctions when he tried to enlist four Chicago lawmakers in a failed bid to open a "back channel" to President Barack Obama and have the sanctions overturned.

Ben Israel previously plead guilty and was sentenced last month to seven months in prison.