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Harare - Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti on Tuesday filed a court application to bar police from obtaining details of his cell phone activity.
Biti, who is also the secretary general of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), asked for a high court injunction after police approached Econet Wireless for details of his call history.
The police told Econet, Zimbabwe's largest mobile telecommunications provider, that they were investigating criminal activities.
In his court application, which will be heard on Wednesday, Biti said Econet had no right or obligation to disclose such information, and accused police of "clandestinely" approaching the magistrate for a search warrant.
"I fear that, should the respondent [Econet] be bullied into submission, my constitutional right to privacy would be unjustifiably interfered with and, in addition, vital information pertaining to the organisations I am heading will be unlawfully accessed," Biti said in the statement.
In a letter to Biti's lawyers, Econet chief executive Douglas Mboweni confirmed the police request.
"Econet will act in compliance with its operating licence and/or any lawful legislation governing the release of such information," Mboweni wrote.
Biti, who has openly clashed with President Robert Mugabe over the state of Zimbabwe's economy, has survived two attacks on his office by war veterans, as well as a recent attack on his home by unknown assailants.