Footballer alleges torture

Press, 2 July 1986, Page 13

Footballer alleges torture

NZPA-AFP Harare A Zimbabwean footballer was kidnapped, drugged and tortured for eight days by Air Force colleagues angry that he had signed for a civilian team, the “Sunday Mail” reported in Harare. Elisha Banda, a striker for Cone Textiles, was

found bound and gagged on scrubland outside Harare. He was suffering from multiple knife wounds and was admitted to a Harare hospital. According to allegations filed by his lawyers, Banda, an Air Force radio technician, was kidnapped by three other airmen,

including an officer. He had played for Cone Textiles two days previously. They forced him to enter a car, where he was given an intravenous injection and lost consciousness, the “Sunday Mail” reported Banda as saying.

He awoke in a bare room, on a bed with his

hands tied to the posts and his mouth gagged by a handkerchief. The car driver, whom he had seen wearing officer’s uniform at first but who was now in casual dress, started to make slits in his stomach with a knife. Banda said he tried to kick the man away, but succeeded only in aggravating him further. The footballer lost consciousness again and when he next came round he was forced to drink alcohol, probably whisky. A non-drinker, he became ill and vomited. Banda, who lost all notion of time during his captivity, thought he remembered several other injections during the period. His lawyers are seeking his release from the Air Force and a court order preventing the Air Force from interfering with his football career.