98 arrested for Zimbabwe anti-government protests

Zimbabwe

Harare – Zimbabwean authorities remanded in custody on Tuesday 98 people arrested for taking part in demonstrations called to demand that President Emmerson Mnangagwa leave power.

The men and women were rounded up in the capital Harare during small-scale demonstrations on Monday and a ruling on their bail is due on April 10, the courts said.

A one-time veteran of the ruling Zanu-PF party called the day of protest to reject moves to keep Mnangagwa, 82, in power beyond the end of his term in 2028.

Most of the 98 people in custody were among around 200 who gathered at Harare’s Freedom Square where they threw stones at security forces, police said.

They chanted slogans such as “Enough is Enough” and “Mnangagwa must go”.

They had contravened laws against breaching the peace and participating in gatherings with the intent to promote public violence, police said.

Turnout at Monday’s demonstrations was limited but shops, transport, schools and businesses were closed for the day in what many said amounted to a stay-away protest.

Police also arrested and briefly detained 10 journalists covering the demonstrations, the Media Institute of Southern Africa’s Zimbabwe branch said.

A journalist who interviewed the veteran who mobilised the demonstrations, Blessed Geza, has been in jail since February 24.

Geza has become the public face of discontent against Mnangagwa, who took power in a coup in 2017 and has been accused of creeping authoritarianism that has crushed the political opposition, including through long jail terms.

A former member of parliament, Geza said he would deliver a “crucial” address on Wednesday on the next course of action.

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