I-Team: Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe to testify in Chicago court?

CHICAGO (WLS) -- An African dictator banned from traveling to the U.S. could soon be making an appearance in a Chicago courtroom.

Chicago businessman Greg Turner is charged with lobbying local politicians to lift longstanding American trade sanctions on Zimbabwe.

The I-Team has learned that Turner's legal team has sent a formal request to the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, to testify at Turner's upcoming trial.

"They have alleged that Greg Turner was acting as an agent actually for Mugabe and for the country of Zimbabwe, so what better way to refute those allegations than to call the president of Zimbabwe?" said James Tunick, defense attorney.

Because of travel restrictions on the notoriously brutal head of state, Mugabe's Chicago court debut may be via live video conference.