Police in Zimbabwe have arrested a judge who granted bail this week to
a jailed senior opposition official and ministerial nominee.
Authorities
say provincial magistrate Livingstone Chipadze is accused of criminal
abuse of his office for allowing lawyers for Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) official Roy Bennett to post bail Wednesday.
Bennett
was never freed. Zimbabwe's Supreme Court granted a state appeal and
suspended the judge's decision. The court ordered Bennett to be kept
in custody until a date is set for his trial. He faces terrorism and
weapons charges.
Bennett's case has strained relations in the
new unity government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mr. Tsvangirai had appointed Bennett to
serve as deputy agricultural minister. However, authorities arrested
Bennett last month, before he could be sworn in.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.