DA urges Mbeki to secure immediate release of MDC secretary general, Tendai Biti"

The DA calls upon President Mbeki to secure MDC secretary general Tendai Biti's immediate release from police custody to allow the opposition to continue with its campaign for the run off election.

Biti's arrest upon arrival in Zimbabwe barely 24 hours after the ZANU-PF negotiation delegation and President Mbeki's mediation team guaranteed that he would be allowed to return home safely shows Mugabe's contempt for the mediation talks. Throughout the entire negotiation process, Mugabe has reneged on almost all agreements essential to secure free and fair elections in Zimbabwe without any decisive intervention from Mbeki.

The fact that details of Biti's detention have thus far been kept secret raises questions about his safety in Zimbabwe 's notorious prisons. The series of arrests against opposition leaders by the Mugabe regime is an orchestrated ploy to stop the opposition from running an even rudimentary campaign and bears all the hallmarks of a rigged poll.

If President Mbeki is indeed as committed to resolving the political impasse in Zimbabwe as he claims to be, he must ensure the immediate of release Biti. Failure to do so will confirm the dominant perception that he is biased towards ZANU-PF.

Statement issued by Tony Leon MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on foreign affairs, June 13 2008