Protesters gathering in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare for a demonstration to call for electoral reform were tear gassed and beaten by police Friday, despite a High Court ruling allowing the march.
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President Robert Mugabe warned protesters on Friday there would be no “Arab Spring” in Zimbabwe after anti-government demonstrations descended it to some of the worst violence seen in the southern African nation for two decades.
Dubbed the “mega demonstration”, the protest was to include veteran opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe’s former deputy, Joice Mujuru, according to organisers.
Earlier this week, Zimbabwe’s police used teargas and a water cannon to break up a march by MDC youth supporters.
Zimbabwe opposition supporters clash with police during a protest march for electoral reforms on August 26, 2016 in Harare.
“People don’t have (an) option, they have nothing to lose because they know if they don’t protest they will die, with their children, of hunger”, said Nkomo.
The dispersed protesters then fought running battles with police in the streets of Harare, burning tires, throwing rocks and burning a popular market to the ground.
“We have had enough of ZANU-PF misrule”.
The violence came a day after a High Court judge had ordered police “not to interfere (with), obstruct or stop the march”.
He said: “The people’s anger is very deep”.
As NPR has reported, Zimbabwean clergyman Evan Mawarire has been at the center of many of those recent protests.
The commission does not single out any protest in particular but it says police have at times indiscriminately used teargas on people who weren’t involved in street protests.
The Australian embassy issued a statement expressing concern over the recent unrest, saying the use of violence was “not acceptable under any circumstance”.
Several foreign diplomatic missions based in Harare called on the authorities to ensure that basic human rights and freedoms are respected during policing.
Friday’s march was to demand free and fair elections. Mugabe has ruled the country since 1980 and plans to run again.
The story that appeared on a Nigeria news website said Mugabe was not happy that the 31-member team had failed to win any medals and had instructed police commissioner general Augustine Chihuri to arrest the athletes on their arrival home.
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The country’s economic crisis has worsened recently, leading to a chronic cash shortage and delays paying civil servants.
