A Zimbabwe judge has dismissed a bid by the Movement for Democratic Change to have its number two leader released from prison.
The MDC filed the urgent High Court application to have their secretary general Tendai Biti released, arguing he had yet to be officially charged with treason and had been held longer than the legally allowed 48 hours.
Mr Biti was arrested last Thursday after he arrived back in Zimbabwe from a long stay in South Africa.
At first they refused to reveal his whereabouts but a court ordered authorities to produce him on Saturday.
Authorities have said they plan to charge Mr Biti for allegedly authoring a document said to have contained details of a plot to rig the election.
He is also accused of ‘communicating and publishing false information prejudicial to the state’ for proclaiming victory for his party in Zimbabwe's first round polls on 29 March, ahead of official results.
Mr Biti's lawyer Lewis Uriri said the opposition leader would appear in court for an initial remand tomorrow.
The treason charge carries a potential death penalty.
President Robert Mugabe has stepped up his rhetoric ahead of a run-off presidential poll on June 27, warning that opposition leaders faced arrest over the mounting violence.
The opposition blames the ruling party for the mounting violence, which it says has seen more than 60 of its members killed since the first round of the presidential election in March.
The MDC has accused authorities of harassing them with ‘thuggish tactics’ tp prevent them from campaigning ahead of the run-off vote.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been detained five times over the last few weeks as he attempts to campaign to end Mr Mugabe's 28-year rule.
Mr Mugabe warned this weekend that he was ready to fight to prevent the opposition from coming to power.
Mr Tsvangirai defeated Mr Mugabe in the March first round, but with an official vote total just short of an outright majority.
