The veteran opposition leader, the Rev Ndabaningi Sithole, went on trial in a Harare high court yesterday, charged with trying to assassinate the Zimbabwean president, Mr Robert Mugabe, and overthrow his government.
Mr Sithole (77) pleaded not guilty to three counts involving possession of weapons, and recruiting and training people at former rebel Renamo bases in neighbouring Mozambique with the aim of overthrowing the government.
The Public prosecutions director, Mr Augustine Chikumira, told the court that the state would call several witnesses to testify on how they were recruited for military training by Mr Sithole.
Mr Sithole, president of the small right-wing ZANU-Ndonga party which has one of only two opposition-held seats in the 150member parliament dominated by Mr Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party, sat calmly in the dock as the charges were put to him.
Mr Moses Mtombeni, representing Mr Sithole, told the court his client would deny the allegations as "trumped up charges" arising from well orchestrated and protracted attacks by the ruling ZANU-PF party to discredit ZANU-Ndonga.
"He has never entertained the idea of violence. He has no knowledge of the Renamo camps and their structures and no knowledge of any of his members undergoing military training. He has used lawful means to oppose ZANU-PF," Mr Mtombeni said.
Mr Sithole's trial has been pending since October 1995, when he and two alleged accomplices were arrested on the charges of trying to kill his arch-rival. The alleged accomplices were convicted on their own guilty pleas and are expected to be the state's chief witnesses at Mr Sithole's trial.
He has been out on bail since October 1995 and has always maintained his innocence, saying the charge was trumped up by Mr Mugabe in pursuit of an old political vendetta.
Mr Sithole and Mr Mugabe (73) have been bitter rivals since 1963 when the two vied for the presidency of Zimbabwe's now ruling ZANU-PF.
Mr Mugabe lost the contest and was elected party secretary-general, but took over the leadership in the mid-1970s when fellow black nationalists accused Mr Sithole of betraying their struggle for black majority rule to minority whites.
Mr Sithole, who is his party's sole representative in parliament, pulled out of presidential elections in March 1996 at the last minute, accusing Mr Mugabe and the state Central Intelligence Organisation of infiltrating his party in an effort to destroy him. The government denied the charge.