Armed police violently broke up a demonstration of lawyers wearing traditional legal gowns outside Zimbabwe's High Court, took several away and beat them, the independent Law Society and witnesses said.
One group was corralled onto a truck and taken to open grassland in the Eastlea suburb of Harare, where they were made to lie on the ground and were assaulted, said attorney Beatrice Mtetwa, head of the Zimbabwe Law Society.
Afterward, some were being examined for injuries by doctors at a private clinic in northern Harare, she said.
During the lunchtime demonstration on Tuesday in downtown Harare, some of the lawyers, in white court collars and other legal attire, were struck with riot sticks as they argued their rights against orders to disperse.
They were protesting the arrest and detention of two of their colleagues on Friday for allegedly obstructing the course of justice in their defense of opposition activists.
A senior police officer, using a bullhorn, warned the group of about 30 lawyers their protest was illegal under a ban on demonstrations in the Zimbabwe capital.
Riot police, some armed with automatic rifles and shot guns, pushed and jostled the lawyers, hitting out at them.
It was not immediately clear whether any of the protesters were being held under arrest in a continuing clampdown against those seen as opposing the government.
The lawyers pleaded their rights to gather and march peacefully to the nearby parliament house, but squads of police were ordered to disperse the group.
Last month, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe repeatedly told supporters demonstrations would not be tolerated and police had the right to crush dissent and "bash" perpetrators of unrest.
Two attorneys who specialized in human rights issues and were defending jailed opposition activists accused of petrol bomb attacks were released from police cells on Monday after being arrested on Friday.
Police ignored two High Court orders to release them over the weekend. Alec Muchadehama, 41, and a partner in the same firm, Andrew Makoni, 36, were charged on Monday with obstructing justice and freed on bail.
State prosecutors alleged the attorneys submitted "falsehoods" to a Harare magistrate's court on April 30 over one alleged gasoline bombing in western Harare.
The two maintained a fire at ruling party offices in the township of Mbare may have been accidental or set deliberately to blame opposition activists.
They said scarce gasoline and kerosene was stored at the offices.
Prosecutor Austin Muzivi also alleged the two lawyers "lied" that a key witness trumped up charges against government opponents.
Plain clothes agents searched the two lawyers' offices after their arrest on Friday and combed through client files in breach of client-attorney confidentiality, colleagues said.
Muchadehama, most prominent for representing activists and victims of state orchestrated violence, was held at Matapi police cells in western Harare, one of the nation's harshest jails, and was denied warm clothing and even a blanket, said Eric Matinenga, an attorney acting for him.
Night temperatures drop to near freezing in Zimbabwe's southern hemisphere winter.
Matinenga said court orders issued by Judge Tedius Karwe and Judge Alfas Chitakunye over the weekend found no reason for the continued detention of the lawyers arrested in the course of their professional duties.
Both orders to immediately free them were served on police but ignored, he said.
Police and state officials in Zimbabwe, including Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, have frequently ignored court orders and although contempt of court proceedings have been filed, none has been concluded.
Attorneys, human rights activists and independent journalists have been accused of backing a Western campaign led by Britain, the former colonial power, for the ouster of Mugabe, 83, who has ruled since independence in 1980.
The government claims the opposition Movement for Democratic Change mounted a Western-backed campaign of terror and subversion that included a series of 11 gasoline bombings, charges the opposition denies.
At one court hearing, Muchadehama submitted that his clients could not have committed one bombing cited by the state because they were already in jail at the time.
Opposition leaders insist the bombings were orchestrated by state agents to justify the arrests and assault of activists and clear the way for the possible imposition of a sweeping state of emergency as the nation faces deepening political and economic turmoil.
Meanwhile, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who is also chairman of the African Union, expressed concern about the crisis in Zimbabwe before a meeting with South African President Thabo Mbeki, the South African Press Association reported on Tuesday.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
RSS