BY TAFADZWA CHOTO
HARARE — Around 1500-2000 people mobilised on February 15 under the slogan, "No to dictatorship, no to neo-liberal poverty". Earlier that day, the High Court had refused hear the organisers' urgent application against the decision of the police to ban the demonstration. It went ahead in Harare, but in other towns protests were cancelled because of the heavy police presence.
The demonstration was called by the National Constitutional Assembly, the International Socialist Organisation of Zimbabwe (ISO) and the Zimbabwe National Students Association to demand a free and fair presidential election on March 9-10.
Demonstrators assembled at two different points. At the advertised starting point there was heavy police presence and five comrades were arrested, including Munyaradzi Gwisai, MDC MP and member of the ISO, Ray Majongwe and Innocent Sibanda from the Progressive Teachers Union, and two others from the Zimbabwe Liberators Platform, an organisation of liberation war veterans.
At the other starting point near Barclays Bank, the demonstrators managed to march to the ministry of justice, where they were tear-gassed and beaten by police. Ten were arrested.
Those arrested were charged under President Robert Mugabe's "anti-terrorist" Public Order and Security Act. In the cells, comrades demonstrated against the terrible conditions in which they were being held. There were as many 18 prisoners in cells designed to hold six.
This resulted in riot police entering the cells and severely beating some of the detainees. Two were hospitalised. Gwisai was among those attacked, singled out because he was accused of being the ringleader.
The 15 people arrested were held until February 18, when they were each released on Z$5000 (A$200) bail. The protesters will appear in court again on February 26 to face charges with a maximum penalty of six months' jail or a Z$10,000 fine.
91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly readers are asked to contact the Zimbabwe High Commission on (02) 6286 2700 to demand that all charges be dropped.
[Tafadzwa Choto is ISOZ national coordinator and coordinator of the February 15 mass action.]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, February 27, 2002.
Visit the