Inquiry urged after Zimbabwe MP is found dead in cell

The main opposition party in Zimbabwe has demanded an independent investigation after one of its legislators, Learnmore Jongwe, was found dead in his prison cell yesterday.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, blamed President Robert Mugabe's government for Mr Jongwe's death. He said it wanted to eliminate as many opposition MPs as possible to create a big enough majority in parliament for the ruling Zanu-PF party to change the constitution. "He was in government custody and, without any explanation of the circumstances [of his death], they are accountable," Mr Tsvangirai said.

Mr Jongwe, 28, a lawyer, had been in custody since July over allegations that he murdered his wife, 23, in a domestic dispute. Mr Jongwe resoundingly won the slum township of Kuwadzana in the 2000 election and had been seen as a rising star.

The MDC's justice spokesman, David Coltart, said the circumstances of Mr Jongwe's death justified an immediate independent investigation and post-mortem examination. He asked why Mr Jongwe had been in a cell on his own when remand prisoners were normally kept in groups of up to 30.

Two of Mr Jongwe's friends said they wanted investigations into allegations that state agents had been torturing him to extract information about the operations of the MDC.

Zimbabwe's director of prisons, Paradzai Zimondi, confirmed Mr Jongwe's death in a state radio interview but did not explain how he died. A post-mortem examination was due to be made yesterday. State radio claimed Mr Jongwe had tried to commit suicide several times, but it did not provide details.

Mr Jongwe had been due to appear in court on 25 November. He surrendered to the police on 23 July after his wife was stabbed eight times with a kitchen knife. Mr Jongwe's lawyers said he admitted to stabbing his wife after he had caught her having sex with another man, but that he had not intended to kill her.