ZIMBABWE: FORMER PRESIDENT CAANAN BANANA TRIAL UPDATE

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Natural Sound Zimbabwe's former president left a courthouse Tuesday in Harare uncertain of the outcome of his sensational trial for sodomy and homosexual assault. On Tuesday, a judge adjourned the case of Canaan Banana, who left office in 1987, to consider motions by Banana's lawyer to drop the case. Banana faces 11 counts of sexual assault after a former male bodyguard charged he suffered physical abuse at the hands of the former leader. His lawyer says Banana cannot receive a fair trial due to the pre-trial hostile publicity over the case. Banana, 62, is accused by a former male bodyguard and other subordinates of sodomy, attempted sodomy and indecent assault over a three-year period. He came to court with his wife Janet at his side. While the former leader denied being a homosexual when the charges were made public, his case has sparked outrage in the country where homosexuality is considered both illegal and immoral. Homosexual acts are illegal in Zimbabwe and carry a possible jail term of up to 10 years. Banana, who ruled Zimbabwe after independence from 1980-1987, looked sombre as he passed by demonstrators outside, who jeered and carried signs deploring his alleged acts. On Tuesday he got a temporary reprieve from any ruling when Judge Feargus Blackie decided to postpone the proceedings indefinitely. The ruling was in response to an application by Banana's lawyer, Chris Andersen, that a fair trial was impossible in light of public condemnation and court papers calling Banana a "sodomite". His attorney made the request that the charges effectively be dropped during the trial's opening day on Monday. Criminal charges against Banana surfaced after former police aide Jefta Dube claimed Banana raped him and forced him into homosexual acts between 1983 and 1986. The sensationalism of the case has drawn keen media interest as the public learned more details of Banana's long-rumoured homosexuality. In 1995, current President Robert Mugabe, considered a friend of Banana's, launched a public campaign against homosexuals, saying they were "lower than dogs and pigs". That campaign was launched before the charges surfaced against his predecessor. The judge is not expected to make his next decision in the closely-watched case for up to two weeks. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/dfd3b2da4cabb2b54c6fa6038105a414 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork