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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Mugabe Regime Drafts Anti-Terrorism Law |
| 2006-03-28 |
| President Robert Mugabe's increasingly paranoid regime has gazetted a new Bill to deal with terrorism and mercenary activity. Named the Suppression of Foreign and International Terrorism Bill (2006), the piece of legislation seeks to curtail foreign and international terrorism, including mercenary activity. The proposed legislation comes in the wake of the recent discovery of a large arms cache with an assortment of weapons and ammunition in Mutare that was linked to a self-proclaimed, terrorist group Zimbabwe Freedom Movement. Several opposition activists who were picked up in connection with the case have since been released after the High Court ruled that they had been wrongfully arrested. Under the proposed legislation, it would be an offence to undergo training for foreign or international terrorism, to recruit persons to undergo such training, or to possess weaponry that would be used for the purposes of foreign or international terrorist activity. The maximum penalty under the proposed law for such offences would be life imprisonment. It would also be an offence to knowingly harbour or conceal a foreign or international terrorist or to fail to report such terrorist within 72 hours of becoming aware of his or her presence in Zimbabwe. The maximum penalties for such offences would be a hefty fine or 10 years imprisonment or both in the case of harbouring or concealing a foreign or international terrorist. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #1 Bob, of course, defines "terrorism" as "anybody trying to kill ME!" |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-03-28 12:39 |