They were charged with criminal nuisance and detained at Glen View police from 10 am and released after paying a $10 fine each around 10 pm.
In a statement released to the media YAT described the arrests as a ploy by law enforcement agents to scare away youth from the voter process.
Those arrested included the toddler, Anesu Tevera (25), Yeukai Singwere (23), Sanisai Masimo (19), Siriya Sete (23), Anold Svotwa (22) and Russel Mutyambizi.
“As YAT we take the arrests as a ploy by police to frustrate youths’ efforts to register and participate meaningfully in the Zimbabwe electoral process since the accused were only released after voter registration in the area had ended.”
YAT said the recent police behaviour was an indication that youth would be intimidated away from the electoral process as elections draw closer.
The trust called on the GPA principals to reign in the security sector as demanded by the MDCs, SADC and other stakeholders for them to respect democratic rights of all Zimbabweans.
YAT reiterated its calls for the full implementation of agreed GPA reforms before elections. “The partisan police behaviour underscores the need for security sector alignment ahead of coming elections.”
The organisation trained youths from Zimbabwe’s six provinces to enable them to mobilize their peers to effectively participate in the electoral process.
It also conducted electoral indabas, road shows and sports tournaments aimed at encouraging overwhelming and meaningful involvement of the youth in the electoral process.
Post published in: News
Media should continue to expose evil and undemocratic practices by partisan state security agents ahead of elections like what The Zimbabwean and other like minded media houses are doing. Arresting innocent citizens for exercising their basic right to freedom of choice and association will not turn away the winds of political change. The inevitable hour of political change is upon Zimbabwe.