January 09, 2005
Mugabe officials ‘spied for Britain’
Karen MacGregor, Durban
FIVE senior officials from Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party, including a rich relative of President Robert Mugabe, have been arrested and charged with spying for Britain and other western countries.
The five men have been charged under Zimbabwe’s draconian Official Secrets Act with selling high-level information on government and Zanu-PF activities to “hostile” western intelligence agencies. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison.
Among those behind bars is Philip Chiyangwa, a flamboyant businessman, MP and one of 10 Zanu-PF provincial chairmen, who is distantly related to Mugabe. He and a party security official are believed to have been tortured at the infamous Goromonzi military camp 50 miles east of the capital Harare.
Chiyangwa, whose diverse business interests include a company called CIA Marketing and who owns a mansion with a helipad, was detained on December 15 and appeared in a closed court on Christmas Eve, when he is thought to have pleaded not guilty to the charge.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1431379,00.html