MDC MP for Kuwadzana East and deputy treasurer-general Chalton Hwende on Wednesday appeared before Harare magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa facing treason charges.
Hwende was on Tuesday seized by detectives from the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport soon after he arrived from Namibia.
He was advised to apply for bail at the High Court as he facing a serious offence.
Hwende’s lawyer, Harrison Nkomo said that his client’s rights were violated when he got arrested. He said:
The accused was arrested whilst aboard a Namibian Airways plane as soon as it landed. Technically, the accused has not entered Zimbabwe because he was even denied a chance to have his passport stamped.
Men and women claiming to be Zimbabwe Republic Police officers simply grabbed his passport and it’s not known whether they had it stamped or not…in case the state may want to charge him for contravening the Immigration Act. May this be put on record.
Hwende was remanded in custody to March 20.