Zambian authorities today defied a court order stopping them from deporting top Zimbabwe opposition figure Tendai Biti, handing him to police across the border, his lawyer said.
"They have defied the court order to allow him to seek asylum and as I am speaking to you right now he has been handed over to the Zimbabwean police," lawyer Gilbert Phiri told AFP.
Biti, a veteran figure in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), fled to Zambia yesterday claiming asylum, reportedly facing charges at home of inciting post-election violence.
Zambian authorities swiftly refused him asylum, but Phiri said Biti's legal team had managed to challenge the decision, keeping Biti in Zambia.
But authorities have ignored the ruling and deported him, Phiri said.
"He is on the Zimbabwe side," he confirmed. "This is really embarrassing."
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