Zimbabwe opposition leaders are going to court to demand authorities allow and provide security for a planned march on Friday calling for electoral reform after police chiefs suggested they presented a petition instead.
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Police blocked off the site of the protest.
“We have gone to the court.to make sure that the police do not disturb the peaceful demonstration”.
The situation was calm by Wednesday evening, with motorists navigating around stones and other debris in city streets and shattered shop windows were evidence of looting.
“We view this as victory for democracy”, opposition spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said after the court ruling.
Friday’s protest could be the most significant yet, particularly because it could bring together Zimbabwe’s squabbling opposition amid talk of a coalition to fight Mr Mugabe in elections scheduled for 2018.
“If we needed people to just go to Brazil to sing our national anthem and hoist our flag, we would have sent some of the attractive girls and handsome guys from University of Zimbabwe to represent us, ” he said.
President Robert Mugabe has come under enormous pressure with church-based organisations calling on Parliament to move a motion to impeach him if he fails to resolve the economic crisis immediately.
Tsvangirai, who is the former prime minister and now leads the MDC-T party, and former vice president Joice Mujuru are involved in the protests said Africa Report.
“I was beaten by the police here exercising my constitutional right, beaten with baton sticks by a horde of around 10 police officers”, Jonathan Malindati told The New York Times.
Police have often used tear gas, water cannons and open violence to crush anti-government protests, which have become a near-daily occurrence.
Western governments among them, the United States of America called on the government to exhibit restraint and respect the human rights of all Zimbabwean citizens.
The Australian embassy issued a statement expressing concern over the recent unrest, saying the use of violence was “not acceptable under any circumstance”.
Observers say the pressure on Mugabe, Africa’s oldest leader, and the ruling Zanu-PF party is vast.
Supporters of 92-year-old Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from white minority rule in 1980, say he should rule until he dies.
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Under his rule, there has been an economic collapse that has caused food and cash shortages, with the country battling to pay public servants. We can not sit and relax when we know that these demonstrators are foreign-sponsored.
