Mukoko, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, argued before the court that her rights were violated when state security agents took her from her home on 3 December and detained her at a secret camp.

Her lawyers found her on 22 December.

Then she was held in custody by police in Harare until 2 March, when she and four other activists were granted bail, but they had to surrender their passports.

Mukoko's lawyer, Jeremy Gauntlet, told the Supreme Court that Mukoko's rights to liberty and legal protections had been violated and the prosecutor Fatima Maxwell agreed.

"The allegations as they stand are a clear violation of the three rights in the constitution," Maxwell said.

Asked by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku if Mukoko's detention was unlawful, Maxwell replied: "Yes, my Lord."

Mukoko is accused of facilitating travel arrangements for a police constable to undergo military training in neighbouring Botswana, as part of an alleged scheme to topple President Robert Mugabe.

The Zimbabwe Peace Project documented human rights abuses surrounding last year's controversial elections. Before she came to head it, Mukoko was a prominent television personality.

Gauntlet recounted details of her detention, saying that she was tortured while in custody.

"This is a woman (who was) at home with a child and is abducted," he said. "She was only wearing a night dress and is not allowed to take her medicine."

"Her face is put down on the lap of a man. She could hardly breath, she was abducted by state agents. She was beaten on the soles of her feet for a period of time.

"She was only wearing her night dress without pants on. She was threatened with death. The state is here with dirty hands which warrants a permanent stay of prosecution."

He said the charges against Mukoko were "entirely based on rotten evidence."

Last year Zimbabwean authorities accused Botswana of harbouring pro-opposition militants seeking to topple Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980.

Mukoko has been charged along with several supporters of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). They have all denied the charges.

The Supreme Court has given no date for its ruling on whether the terror charges should be dropped.

The case has become a litmus test for the unity government formed in February under a power-sharing deal that guaranteed political freedoms.

Major donors have insisted that all political prisoners be freed before considering Zimbabwe's request for 8.5 billion dollars in aid.

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