(RTTNews) - A court in Zimbabwe on Monday released 39 people in a 45-member group of political and civil society activists arrested last month on charges of plotting a popular uprising in lines of the ones witnessed in Tunisia and Egypt in recent weeks. The court, however, slammed treason charges on the remaining six.

In his ruling issued Monday, Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi of the Harare court ordered former Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lawmaker Munyaradzi Gwisai and five other activists to face treason charges when they reappear in court for a hearing on March 21. Treason charges carry the death sentence in Zimbabwe.

Magistrate Mutevedzi said in his ruling that the six defendants had organized and spoken at the meeting called to initiate a popular uprising against President Robert Mugabe's regime. He said the accused could now "apply for bail at the High Court since the offense you are facing is a scheduled offense which cannot be entertained by a magistrate court."

The magistrate, however, ordered the release of the remaining 39 activists from police custody, stating that "merely listening to treasonous utterances is not criminal." The 45-member group has been under detention since they were arrested in mid-February.

Munyaradzi Gwisai and 44 other labor union and student activists were arrested on February 19 when they watching live television footage of the uprisings that led to the ouster of Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

All of them were subsequently accused by prosecutors of plotting to "organize, strategize and implement the removal of the constitutional government of Zimbabwe" through a popular revolt. But the defendants had denied any wrongdoing, insisting that they were only taking part in an academic debate about African politics.

Washington had earlier condemned the arrests of the activists, and urged the Zimbabwean government to uphold its peoples' rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of opinion and expression, protection from arbitrary arrest and ensure a fair trial for those arrested.

The developments come amidst mounting political tensions in Zimbabwe, with President Mugabe calling for fresh elections later this year. The last elections, which were held in 2008, had led to wide-spread violence across the country, prompting the formation of a unity government a year later.

By Special correspondent