Defiant protestors march again

trying to join the march in central Harare on Monday in a defiance campaign that was also aimed at protesting the savage attack of labour leaders by police.
“We will continue to sustain pressure on the regime in line with the resolution of the Broad Alliance,” NCA chairman Lovemeore Madhuku said on Monday. “The demonstrations are over for today, the next ones will be soon,” he added. “The demonstration did not succeed in the scale to which we wanted it to be because of intimidation.”
On Monday, Harare’s magistrate court also remanded on bail four NCA activists arrested last week for holding what the police said was an unauthorized meeting.
The bedraggled activists arrived at court in a police truck, looking weary. They were remanded on $500 bail each .
“They have been advised of the charges against them are contravening sections of the Public Order and Security Act – organizing a meeting to prepare for a demonstration and holding a demonstration that had been banned,” their lawyer Alec Muchadehama told The Zimbabwean.
The NCA, a coalition of student and church groups, political parties and human rights organizations, wants a new constitution to replace laws critics say entrench Mugabe’s rule.
They say deeply rooted flaws in the current constitution make it impossible to hold free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, including the 2008 which government wants to move to 2010.
“The situation today shows how the Zanu (PF) government is going to treat its citizens in this county. This country has been transformed into a military state, there is no democracy, there is no freedom of expression, there is no freedom of association and assembly,” said Madhukua.
“But as the NCA were are going to keep up pressure to have the new constitution in place. The events such as today do fortify our argument for a new constitution in this country. This demonstration is just a start.”