The Zimbabwean heard they have been charged under the Miscellaneous Offences Act for “obstructing traffic”. They were detained for six hours and released after paying an admission of guilt fine to avert the possibility of spending the weekend in custody.
“The regime is refusing us space to campaign freely,” MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said. “The police are clearly stung by the popularity of our campaign strategy.”
A police officer at Harare Central Police Station confirmed the arrests but referred further questions to police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena, who could not be reached for comment.
Scores of MDC activists and winning MPs, senators, and councillors have been arrested in the last two months in a crackdown by the police against the MDC ahead of the run-off.
There was chaos this week as police openly aided Zanu (PF) youths to force private transport operators to slash their fares and stick Mugabe’s “100 percent total empowerment” stickers on their vehicles.
A team of Zanu (PF) supporters have set up bases in high-density suburbs to force commuter operators to charge ZD200 million for a ride without looking at the entire value chain of running a commuter.
Post published in: News