Popular Zimbabwean pastor Evan Mawarire, one of the organisers of the largest protests in years against President Robert Mugabe, was arrested Tuesday and charged with inciting public violence, his lawyer said.
Advertisement
“No matter what has happened to me, you and I have done well, we have stood up and raised our voices to build this nation”, Mawarire said. “Every Zimbabwean who does not participate is robbing us of a great opportunity to add to the momentum of where our country is going”, he said.
A Zimbabwean pastor who was briefly detained after organising a nationwide strike last week has called on people to keep protesting.
A copy of a search warrant seen by Reuters said police believed Mawarire was in possession of a stolen police helmet, baton stick and “other subversive material” that could be used to incite public violence.
Salaries were finally paid last week and so most schools, hospitals and offices were open as usual on Wednesday despite the strike call. The government has warned organizers of further protests that “they will face the full wrath of the law”.
Private media in Zimbabwe has today (Thursday) gone overdrive on the court appearance and subsequent release of pastor Evan Mawarire.
Zimbabwean officials have described the protesters as “terrorists” and blame foreign powers for sabotaging the economy and stirring unrest.
In a Sunday sermon streamed live on YouTube, Makandiwa claimed that he was seeing someone running towards the people of Zimbabwe.
The surge in demonstrations has revealed long-simmering frustration in a country where 90 per cent of the population is not in formal employment.
Last week security forces used tear gas and water cannon to disperse violent protests outside Harare that erupted over police officers allegedly using road blocks to extort cash from motorists. About 300 people were arrested for protesting in different parts of the country after a similar shutdown last week.
Television talk show host “Dr. Phil” McGraw and his wife are suing The National Enquirer for $250 million, charging that the supermarket tabloid falsely accused him of being an abusive husband and a hypocrite who.
Advertisement
However, the South African trade union federation (Cosatu) on 13 July broke ranks with its ANC ally by backing the protests in Zimbabwe a day after the ANC claimed the protest movement was linked to foreign interference and “sponsored elements seeking regime change”.
