Harare - A witness in the trial of a Zimbabwean official accused of terrorism and insurgency recounted Thursday how he had been tortured by state agents seeking his testimony.

Michael Hitschmann has turned into a problematic witness for the state as it attempts to prosecute junior agriculture minister - designate Roy Bennett of terrorism and insurgency charges.

Although he has admitted under oath to knowing Bennett, Hitschmann has distanced himself from video testimony in which he says Bennett was buying arms from him for a rebellion. He has also stated that he has no knowledge of emails in which he and Bennett allegedly discuss an overthrow of the government.

Prosecutors allege Hitschmann, an arms dealer, was paid by Bennett to buy weapons to assassinate government officials.

Bennett, a white former commercial farmer and opposition activist has been charged with illegal possession of weapons for purposes of terrorism, banditry and insurgency. A senior official of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), he has pleaded not guilty the charges.

The MDC says the case against him is politically motivated and aimed at keeping him out of the unity government it formed with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party last February.

Denied medical treatment

On Thursday, Hitschmann called into question the veracity of the video confession, in which he identifies arms allegedly sold to Bennett, arguing that he had been beaten just prior to its filming.

"The people who caused this video to be filmed, your honour, are the very people who tortured me," he testified. "Despite burning my buttocks with cigarettes, kicking me in the testicles, and allowing me to urinate upon myself ... having caused me a head injury to my right temple, on the video evidence they conveniently do not show my face and hence you fail to see the blood."

He said the video had been shot after he had been tortured, restrained in leg irons and handcuffs and denied medical treatment or the ability to clean himself.

Hitschmann's testimony has led prosecutors to accuse Bennett's team of influencing Hitschmann and Hitschmann of siding with Bennett.

Prosecutors now seek to withdraw him as a witness. Hitschmann, meanwhile, has sought legal advice as to whether testifying in Bennett's trial could harm his appeal in the Supreme Court against a 2006 conviction for possession of arms of war without a licence.

Presiding Judge Chinembiri Bhunu is expected to rule on Monday on whether impeachment proceedings against Hitschmann can continue.

By SAPA