Armed Zimbabwean police arrested activist pastor Evan Mawarire at his home on Wednesday and were to charge him with inciting public violence following protests that left three people dead this week, his lawyer said.
A Reuters witness saw about a dozen heavily armed police officers bundling Mawarire into the back seat of a truck and his lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who was present, told reporters that the pastor would be charged at a police station.
The matter is beyond our control,” it said.
Other arrests were reported. A spokesman for the main opposition MDC party, Nkululeko Sibanda, said in a Twitter post that “party leadership” had been detained. “This is only deepening the political crisis in the country,” he said.
As President Emmerson Mnangagwa makes an extended overseas trip that will include a stop at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to plead for more foreign investment, former military commander and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, a hardliner, is in charge at home.
Eight people were killed on Monday when police and military fired on crowds, according to Amnesty International. But Zimbabwe’s government said three people were killed, including a policeman who was stoned to death by an angry crowd.
The anti-government demonstrations amounted to “terrorism,” Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said on state television Tuesday night. The protests were “well-coordinated” by Zimbabwe’s opposition, she said.
Streets were deserted in Harare on Wednesday.
Source: Mbaretimescom
