Zimbabwean Police Releases Opposition Leader After Brief Detention

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was temporarily detained by police on Wednesday and later released. Tsvangirai, leader of the main wing of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told supporters he would continue pressurizing President Robert Mugabe’s government to implement political reforms.

Party insiders said he was picked up for questioning in a pre-dawn raid timed to crash a planned protest march by his party later Wednesday.

He was released around 8 am and MDC later sought an urgent court order compelling the police to show cause why the MDC could not be allowed to hold the protest march.

Harare magistrate Priscila Chisumba ruled in favor of the police ban but ordered the police to allow the opposition to hold rallies.

“The net effect of the judgment by Priscilla Chisumba is that police were right to ban the public procession in the city center but she allowed the rally at Glamis Arena,” said MDC secretary general Tendai Biti.

The police ruled on Monday that the protest march was likely to result in a breach of peace, citing utterances by Tsvangirai and other senior MDC officials last weekend that were considered as inciting violence.

Tsvangirai later addressed supporters at a stadium in the capital Harare and vowed to press on with protest marches until Mugabe accepts political reforms.

The banned protest was meant to put pressure on President Mugabe’s government to accept MDC demands for a new constitution ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections in March and to address the deteriorating economic crisis in the country.

MDC wants the polls moved to June to allow a new constitution to be implemented but Mugabe has said the polls will be in March as scheduled.

Source African Press Agency

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