Profile of Roy C. Bennett on Famous Like Me

Roy Bennett MP is a member of the Zimbabwean National Parliament for the seat of Chimanimani and as a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). He is the husband of Heather Bennett and the father of Charles and Casey Bennett.

Roy Bennett was elected in the 2000 Parliamentary election, inspite of repeated acts of intimidation by the Zanu-PF government, including attacks on his wife and family. His election was remarkable as one of only 3 white MPs in Zimbabwe, and the only one from a rural and almost completely black electorate.

Roy ran for parliament after being petitioned to by local chiefs and community leaders in Chimanimani, who were grateful for his work to repair roads in the Chimanimani region after the cyclone Elone and his respect for and understanding of the customs and traditional laws of the Chimanimani area.

Roy Bennett is also the Provincial treasurer for the MDC in the province of Manicaland.

In 2004, Roy Bennett was punished after being involved in an altercation on the floor of the Zimbabwean Parliament, where he pushed the Attorney General, Patrick Chinamasa to the ground, after Chinamasa accused Bennett's ancestors of being thieves and murderers. The parliamentary vote went along party lines, was sentenced to a jail term of 15 months in Mutoko Jail in Zimbabwe.

The harshness and politically charged nature of his sentence has provoked international condemnation, with prominent world leaders and Amnesty International to call for his release. A campaign is also being run by his friends and family for his release.

Papers presented on his behalf by his wife Heather were refused for the Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005, and Heather presented alternative papers to run for office herself.

On March 15, Zimbabwe's new Electoral Court ruled he could contest parliamentary elections.

The court also postponed the election in his constituency Chimanimani by a month to give his team time to campaign. Elsewhere, elections are due on 31 March.

Release

On 28 June 2005 Roy Bennett was released from Chikurubi Prison after spending eight months of his 12 month sentence in custody. It is standard prison procedure to commute a third of any sentence for good behaviour. He told reporters he had been made to stand naked in front of prison guards and was then given a prison uniform covered with human excrement when he arrived in jail.

"I am more determined than ever to continue to strive for a better Zimbabwe for all Zimbabweans, the current oppression cannot continue for much longer and sooner, rather than later, the people will assert their rights", he said.

"The inhumanity with which the prisoners are treated and their total lack of recourse to any representation or justice combined with the filth and stench of daily life is something I will never forget and I will not rest until their conditions are improved," he added.

He also stated that if the opportunity arose and the people for Chimanimani asked him to, he would stand as their representative again.

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Roy C. Bennett