Harare: A top Zimbabwe rights activist, whose location was unknown after armed men took her weeks ago, appeared in court today with eight others after accusations of recruiting anti-government plotters.

Specific charges against the activist, taken from her home on December 3 and held in an unknown location, as well as the others were not read out in court, but prosecutor Florence Ziyambi spoke of the alleged plot.

"Sometime in October the government of Zimbabwe launched complaints that Botswana was training insurgents...for the purpose of removing the present government. That s when security people picked up the accused persons."

The group have been accused of recruiting or goading some people to undergo military training in Botswana in order to topple the government of President Robert Mugabe's government, a lawyer told AFP.

Ziyambi told the court the group had been detained by state security agents and only released into police custody on Monday.

The group have been remanded in custody to December 29, subject to determination by the High Court, where lawyers filed an application for the release of the activists today.

Jestina Mukoko, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project a rights group which has been compiling reports of election violence was taken from her home on December 3 by about 12 armed men who identified themselves as police.

She is accused of facilitating the travel arrangements for a police constable to undergo military training in neighbouring Botswana, according to a police statement earlier today.

Source : PTI