Baton-wielding police, furious diplomats and a politician fighting to save his life

Chaotic scenes as Morgan Tsvangirai goes on trial over plot to kill Mugabe, while England's cricketers prepare for World Cup

At the plush Harare Sports Club, the cricket pitches near President Robert Mugabe's heavily fortified residence are being spruced up for next week's World Cup. Ten minutes away by car in Hatcliffe, poor Zimbabweans spend hours every day queuing in hope of buying a loaf of bread.

And yesterday outside the High Court building the police were using truncheons on people trying to attend the treason trial of the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. He and two colleagues face the death sentence if convicted. This is Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

Mr Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, appeared in court charged with plotting to kill President Mugabe and seize control of this beleaguered southern African nation. But the long-awaited treason trial turned to chaos before it began. Police barred opposition politicians, lawyers, journalists and diplomats from the court and arrested several people, including two independent Zimbabwean journalists.

The manhandling of the diplomats outside, the arrest of the journalists and the beating of opposition supporters were in open defiance of a judge's orders that anyone interested in the court case be admitted.

Sophie Honey, the British high commission spokeswoman, was prodded in the throat with a baton by riot police and Jan-Frederik van Thiel, the German deputy ambassador, was told by an irate police officer: "You are no longer a diplomat, go home." Even Joseph Sullivan, Washington's ambassador, was not spared humiliation. He was kept waiting 20 minutes by a riot policeman brandishing a baton in his face.

Paddington Garwe, the presiding judge, eventually ordered "all interested parties and members of the public" be admitted to the court after Mr Tsvangirai's lawyers argued that the public could not legally be excluded from an open court.

But the Zimbabwe police enforced a new draconian media law for the first time by admitting only a few journalists accredited by a government-appointed media commission, four hours after the judge had made his ruling.

Mr Tsvangirai, 51, and two of his senior deputies – Welshman Ncube, the secretary general, and Renson Gasela, land affairs secretary – face the state's key evidence, a grainy video purportedly showing the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change discussing Mr Mugabe's assassination with a Canadian-based consultant.

The case against Mr Tsvangirai centres on a secretly recorded videotape of a meeting in December 2001 between the MDC leader and the former Israeli spy, Ari Ben Menashe, in which the opposition leader is claimed to be seeking help to kill Mr Mugabe. Mr Ncube and Mr Gasela are accused of helping to arrange the meeting with Mr Menashe, who runs a consultancy in Montreal called Dickens and Madison. The two also face the death sentence.

In the defence outline read by his lawyers yesterday, Mr Tsvangirai admitted the meeting with Mr Menashe but denies discussing any plans to kill Mr Mugabe. He says the grainy video was manipulated by Mr Menashe to incriminate him. The opposition leader says he was unaware Mr Menashe was secretly working for President Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

"Morgan Tsvangirai denies any request was made for the assassination of President Mugabe or a coup to be organised by Dickens and Madson. No such request appears from the tape or transcript made available by the state," said George Bizos, a prominent South African-based anti-apartheid lawyer, who represented Nelson Mandela nearly 40 years ago. He is leading Mr Tsvangirai's defence team. Mr Bizos said Mr Menashe had a known repu-tation for dishonesty and "fraudulent conduct".

Bharat Patel, the deputy attorney general leading the state's legal team, said in a 30-minute opening speech that Mr Tsvangirai's democratic rights were not on trial; his "illegal" means of trying to gain power were. "The desire for power is not the issue. It is unlawful to seek power by undemocratic means. That is what the state seeks to punish," he said. Prosecutors said the tape was missing its first 10 minutes because of a faulty battery.

Professor Lovemore Madhuku, of the University of Zimbabwe law faculty, said outside court: "Nothing can be ruled out if one considers the extent to which our courts have been muzzled. The outcome of the trial may at best enhance Tsvangirai's political career if he is acquitted, or at worst destroy it if he is convicted."

After yesterday's session Mr Tsvangirai said: "I am innocent. I did not address the court, the state made its submissions and my lawyers presented my defence outline."

He was formally charged on 25 February last year, weeks before the presidential election, which he lost to Mr Mugabe. At the time the American government said there was no convincing evidence against the men and the charges were further efforts to repress the opposition. If the trial lasts the expected three weeks, that would over-run the 13 February cricket World Cup match with England in Harare.

The England and Wales Cricket Board took a big step yesterday towards formally requesting the controversial World Cup match in Zimbabwe be relocated. An ECB management board meeting at Lord's decided David Morgan, the chairman, Tim Lamb, the chief executive, and John Pickup, a lawyer, should be handed the mandate for any potential appeal on security grounds. They are responsible for seeking rescheduling of the fixture.

They will consult Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, Nasser Hussain, the captain, who has hinted that the players would boycott the match unless the authorities took action, and the Professional Cricketers' Association before taking their next step. That could be to appeal to the International Cricket Council's event technical committee, a six-man structure who took responsibility for the matches from the world governing body yesterday, for the match to be moved to South Africa.

The 15-man England squad have twice released statements urging an immediate review of safety and security in the strife-torn African country and asking for a switch of venues.

The outcome of the Harare trial will determine Mr Tsvangirai's political future. If convicted, his political career will be ended. Even if he is not sent to the gallows, he will be barred from running for President again. If he wins the case, he will enhance his chances of becoming head of state.