Former Zimbabwe information minister Jonathan Moyo, considered by many to have spearheaded state repression of media critics, was in court in Bulawayo on Tuesday pursuing damages for his alleged defamation by by two top ruling party officials.
The case continued from May, when Moyo's witnesses finished testifying. Moyo seeks Z$200 million (US$800,000) damages from ZANU-PF Chairman John Nkomo, speaker of the Zimbabwe parliament and a prospective presidential candidate, and Dumiso Dabengwa, a member of the ruling party's central committee.
Moyo alleges that the two men besmirched his good name when they told a meeting last year in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North, that Moyo had received funding from unnamed foreign countries to stage a coup against President Robert Mugabe.
Moyo, now independent member of parliament for Tsholotsho, was cast out of ZANU-PF for opposing the selection of Joyce Mujuru as vice president in late 2004.
Reporter Chris Gande of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe turned to Moyo’s attorney, Job Sibanda, for an account of Tuesday's court proceedings.