Police used tear gas and water cannon Friday on a march by opposition protesters in the capital, Harare, who are demanding electoral reform ahead of 2018 presidential elections.
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Zimbabwe has seen a mounting tide of violent protests over the past weeks, with demonstrators calling on Mugabe to step down.
Usually bustling with street sellers, the capital’s streets were bristling with police wielding batons and tear gas canisters.
Operating under the banner of the National Electoral Reforms Agenda (NERA), opposition parties including those led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru and former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai want President Robert Mugabe’s government to implement reforms to ensure free and fair polls.
Officers speaking to CAJ News on condition of anonymity expressed solidarity with the protesting masses, pointing out they also were not exempt from the economic crisis besetting the country. If it was to stop us, from marching, then they are wrong because next Friday we will call for another opportunity to demonstrate with full capacity extended.
The presidential affairs minister also appealed to Southern African Development Community (SADC) to take the Zimbabwean matter seriously and also urged the African Union (AU) and the United Nations to intervene.
Opposition spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said the decision of the High Court was a “victory for democracy”.
“We fear these threats will further limit the right of Zimbabweans to exercise freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, which are enshrined in the Zimbabwean Constitution, protected under Zimbabwe’s global human rights obligations, and core values of any functioning democracy”, the embassy said. “But we tell them that it is not going to happen here”.
“Citizens are like a spring: the more they are suppressed, the greater the rebound”, he said. “The people’s desperation is very deep”, he said. “Zimbabwe is now a threat to regional peace and stability”, said Gutu. And Didymus Mutasa, a senior official from Mujuru’s party, told Reuters, “Today has been for me the worst day that I have lived in this country, where I have observed with my own eyes, the state breaking its own laws and the state starting violence by attacking people who were just gathered together”.
“We are in a season when you don’t know what will happen next and what will not happen”. The march had not even begun before the Police took action, and their tear gas swept over crowds of peacefully singing people.
“The police are not saying in this letter that they are afraid of violence, are afraid of any illegality or that they do not have manpower, they are not saying that”.
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In a founding affidavit, NERA organising secretary Mr Joelson Mugari said the group notified the police of the intended street march and procession on August 12 this year.
