Patson Dzamara (above) was among those arrested
Patson Dzamara, 30, Oliver Chikumba, 32, Tatenda Mombeyarara, 33, Pride Mukono, 26, and Makomborero Haruzivishe, 33, were also accused of obstructing the course of justice.
The activists were rounded up on Thursday while they were holding a vigil calling upon President Robert Mugabe, in power since 1980, to step down.
They appeared before magistrate Vakai Chikwekwe who released them on $1,000 bail each.
Through their lawyer, Obey Shava, the five complained about how they were handled by the police.
Shava told court that, before their arrest at around 1 am, Dzamara and Haruzivishe almost got abducted.
The lawyer told court the accused managed to identify who was behind the abortive abduction.
“It was one Detective Assistant Chafa from Law and Order division.
“They couldn’t have mistaken his identity because they once dealt with him in other cases,†said the lawyer.
Shava also told court that some of the accused were assaulted with truncheons and sustained injuries.
Magistrate Chikwekwe ordered the State to look into the allegations, adding that those who were injured must also be examined by government doctors.
Prosecutor Sebastin Mutizirwa alleged that the five robbed two women who passed through Africa Unity Square at around 1 am on Thursday.
The two alleged victims were identified as Nomsa Dube, 46, and Angela Chuma, 30. Mutizirwa said they searched their bags and took $30 and clothes valued at $60.
Court heard that Dube and Chuma screamed for help and were heard by two officers – one Makona and a Nhidza – who were on patrol near Parliament building.
The prosecutor said the accused were then cornered but tried to resist arrest.
He said they took Nhidza’s button stick and manhandled him. The police however overpowered the accused and arrested them.
Africa Unity Square has been the venue of a series of protests over the disappearance of political activist Itai Dzamara who was abducted in March last year, allegedly by military intelligence agents.
His brother Patson, who was among those arrested and charged with robbery, last week released a picture he said showed the missing man being held at an undisclosed location.
Opposition is mounting against the 92-year-old Mugabe, whose decades in office have been marked by economic decline, repression of dissent, claims of vote-rigging, mass unemployment and emigration.
Post published in: Featured