He questioned whether the courts could give orders to Mr Mugabe and the police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri. Squatters adamantly defied the court order and said they would continue to invade farms. We are not moving off the farms. We fought for this land and we are getting it now. Anyone who wants to deny us the land of our forefathers will have to fight us and we are ready for that fight.
White farms are key food producers and the source of tobacco, a crucial export crop.
Government vehicles are also delivering supplies to the squatters, reported the newspaper. The surprise ruling by Justice Paddington Garwe directly contradicted recent Mugabe assertions that the farm invasions were legal as long as they were not violent. Mr Justice Garwe previously had a reputation for making judgments favourable to the government. But his uncompromising ruling on the squatters has put the president in a bind. If Mr Mugabe tells police to remove the squatters, as the court ordered, he risks a backlash from those whose votes he is courting.