CHICAGO – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has indicated through back channels that he may be willing to give evidence in defense of a Chicago businessman accused of illegally lobbying on his behalf, the businessman’s lawyer’s say.
Greg Turner is due to stand trial later this month on charges that he violated U.S. sanctions against Mugabe and his regime by lobbying on their behalf without registering.
He wants Mugabe to be deposed in his case when he flies into New York next week for a meeting of the United Nations.
At a hearing Wednesday morning, Turner’s lawyer Michael Irving Leonard said that “behind the scenes” talks with the Zimbabwean government about Mugabe “indicate that maybe he wanted to testify.”
U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo said she was not opposed to ordering Mugabe’s deposition but that she wanted a better assurance that Mugabe will make himself available.
Leonard told her he expects that Mugabe will testify that Turner was not operating on behalf of Zimbabwe when he lobbied black Chicago politicians in an attempt to have the sanctions against Mugabe lifted.
“It couldn’t be more germane to the case,” he said.
But prosecutor Barry Jonas said that if Mugabe is available, he should be brought to Chicago to testify on the stand, calling Leonard’s description of the back channel talks “incredibly vague.”
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Bucklo ordered both sides to return with more information Wednesday afternoon, so that she can rule before Mugabe arrives in the U.S.
Turner’s co-defendant, vegan soul food restaurant owner Prince Asiel Ben Israel, previously plead guilty and was sentenced to seven months in prison.
The government alleges Turner and Ben Israel hoped to capitalize on the election of President Barack Obama by illegally lobbying black Chicago politicians, including U.S. Reps Danny Davis and Bobby Rush to drop the sanctions against Mugabe.
They say the scheme failed before Obama was even sworn in, when his staff referred the case for investigation.
Former U.S. Sen Roland Burris and State Sen. Donne Trotter are both listed as possible prosecution witnesses. – Chicago Sun-Times
