Zimbabwe’s Attorney General Johannes Tomana said on Wednesday that a prominent human rights activist arrested for allegedly plotting to overhtrow President Robert Mugabe was a security threat, and therefore cannot be released on bail. Jestina Mukoko, a director of a human rights organisation, was arrested early last month along with opposition activists and accused of recruiting people for military training in Botswana to topple Mugabe. She has mounted a fierce battle for bail, but the authorities have kept her and the opposition activists in remand prison under tight security. “Evidence gathered proves that she (Mukoko) is a threat to society and she should not be released now,” Tomana said. There have been strong local and international calls for Mukoko and her co-accused, who allege torture, to be released on bail to seek medical treatment. But Tomana said she posed a threat if released, and recommended her continued detention. The authorities have accused neighbouring Botswana of training opposition militants to topple Mugabe, an allegation Gaborone has denied.
