The treason trial of the MDC's Secretary General and chief negotiator in the unity government talks, Tendai Biti, has finally been set for May, after months of stalling by the state's prosecution team.

Biti faces two charges of seeking to oust Robert Mugabe, after he was accused of announcing the results of last year's March presidential elections before they had been authorised. Biti was also accused of writing a document detailing the so called 'plot to overthrow Mugabe,' by supposedly rigging the polls. Last year, two other charges relating to 'insulting the President,' and 'causing disaffection to the armed forces' that had been brought against the Secretary General, were dropped, but no indictment papers were ever served on Biti to stand trial.

The MDC official was arrested on the 12th of June last year after arriving at Harare International airport from South Africa, where he had spent time in self-imposed exiled. Soon after the March elections, won by the MDC and party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Biti addressed a press conference where he announced the party's own election results. This after the government run Zimbabwe Election Commission refused to release the results within the stipulated time frame, sparking fears they were tampering with the real outcome of the polls.

The Mugabe regime then planned an elaborate propaganda campaign in which they accused Biti of plotting to rig the elections on behalf of the MDC. A 13 page document, allegedly written by Biti, was then published in the state run media outlining the supposed MDC rigging plans, which included bribing polling officers to exaggerate the number of MDC votes.

On Thursday, a court date was finally set for Biti to face the charges and his lawyers have opposed further remand of the case, arguing that the state, in failing to serve indictment papers, had delayed setting the trial date. Magistrate Olivia Mariga is expected to rule on Friday whether to keep Biti on remand.