Reuters: Zimbabwe police crush prayer rally, seize leaders

[Eugene]

Zimbabwe police crush prayer rally, seize leaders

By Cris Chinaka

2 hours, 4 minutes ago

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean riot police arrested the country's top opposition
leader and shot a man dead on Sunday as they crushed a prayer rally planned to
protest against President Robert Mugabe.

Witnesses said police fought skirmishes with rock-throwing opposition supporters
in the Harare township of Highfield, where organizers had tried to hold the rally
to address Zimbabwe's deepening political and economic crisis.

Police arrested Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai
and other opposition officials after blocking their motor convoy from driving to the
rally site.

The party said Tsvangirai and the others were severely assaulted and that one
MDC activist had been shot dead.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070311/wl_nm/zimbabwe_rally_dc_4

Also: Zimbabwe's Mugabe plans to stand again if elections in 2008 - AFP

[BayCityProgressive]

1. SO this guy seems to be

a total scum bag that is ruining the country. That being said..do the majority of people support him? I know there have been vote fraud allegations but does this account for a majority of his votes? Sometimes I am surprised that citizens will back such idiots. Our own President had a 90% approval at one point.

[Odin2005]

2. Zimbabwians hate Mugabe's guts.

He used to be national hero of their's, the leader of the rebel movement that overthrew the White ruling caste of what was then Rhodesia and set up a democratic state, bute in the last few years he has degenerated into a despot.

[BayCityProgressive]

3. thanks

It seems to me like this guy is using social justice issues in a perverted way to make money for his friends and keep his grip on power. I am a Democratic Socialist and I agree that the nation needed changes but when people like him use the word socialist it makes me want to gag. He took land fromt he white farmers and gave it to his friends. They went from a food exporting country to a starving country. If he really wanted to help people he would have bought land from white farmers and sold it at 0% interest or just given it to black farmers who knew what they were doing but just never had the option to own their own land. That way both whites and blacks could still farm and land wouldn't be given to people who didn't know what they were doing. He then should have nationalized the diamond mines, which he is doing (but I am sure will give the money to his friends) and put a board elected directly by the people in charge of it. The revenue from these could be used for HIV medicine and prevention and education. He isn't a real socialist...he is a corrupt murdering thug.

[noonwitch]

6. He's a good example of how absolute power leads to absolute corruption

In the original revolution, in which Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, there was vast support for equality among the white middle class. In the last ten years, Mugabe has become brutal about turning farmland over to blacks, and has not tried to be at all diplomatic about it. As a result, there have been some very ugly and brutal confrontations there about land ownership.

Not to mention that when international relief has been sent there in the past, it has not gotten to the citizens who most need it. The government appropriated it for it's own use.

[David__77]

4. Plenty see Mugabe as the lesser evil.

No one wants to hear this on this forum (almost no one), but plenty in Zimbabwe reject MDC and the main opposition groups because they are seen as handmaidens for the West - UK in particular. They are funded and bolstered by them. No one wants to support the former colonial master who raped and terrorized the country for so long, so many, especially the poor and peasants, stick with ZANU-PF, because at least they are anti-colonialist. It's sad, because ZANU and ZAPU, which merged to become ZANI-PF, the ruling party, had such truly glorious histories of selfless sacrifice for the nation's liberation through armed struggle. It was a genuine freedom fight. But opportunists like Mugabe, one day a "Marxist-Leninist," the next a Christian fundamentalist, have squandered these victories.

[bigworld]

9. Mugabe was a hero, now is just a thug

You're absolutely right. Mugabe was a shining light in Africa in the beginning, and they had a real progressive nation there, with guaranteed minority rights, progressive politics, and a healthy economy. But we (and the South Africans) need to realize that people can change for the worse, and Mugabe has just become a fascist, racist, raving looney. And the MDC is the only real opposition out there. What is to be done?

[maddezmom]

5. Lawyers demand access to Zimbabwe opposition chief

Lawyers demand access to Zimbabwe opposition chief by Fanuel Jongwe
28 minutes ago



HARARE (AFP) - Lawyers demanded access to Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai Monday after his arrest, along with dozens of supporters, when riot police crushed an anti-government demonstration in Harare.

And as Tsvangirai supporters expressed fears for the MDC leader's welfare, the United States warned Mugabe's government to ensure that those arrested came to no harm.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader has so far not been allowed to see either legal representatives or medics since he was picked up on Sunday close to the scene of the protest against veteran President Robert Mugabe.

"We have information that he was beaten up ... (but) the police wouldn't let us see him last night," Tsvangirai's chief lawyer Alec Muchadehama told AFP.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070312/wl_afp/zimbabwepoliticsopposition_070312085400

[Eugene]

7. Reuters: Zimbabwe court orders access to "badly hurt" Tsvangirai

Zimbabwe court orders access to "badly hurt" Tsvangirai
12 Mar 2007 20:20:00 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Adds court order, condemnation by U.N. chief)

By Cris Chinaka

HARARE, March 12 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's High Court on Monday ordered police
to allow lawyers access to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was said
to be "in bad shape" after suffering head injuries while in police custody.

Police detained Tsvangirai and dozens of other opposition figures on Sunday
and killed a man while breaking up a prayer meeting organised in defiance
of a ban on political rallies, and rights groups alleged he and other
politicians were tortured.

-snip-

A Tsvangirai lawyer said the High Court ordered police late on Monday to
give them access to the head of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) and the other detainees.

"A provisional order was issued that we have access to our clients, that
they should be taken to hospital where necessary and that they should be
taken to court by 12 (p.m. local time) tomorrow (Tuesday) failure of which
they should be released," Alec Muchadehama told Reuters.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12374128.htm

[Eugene]

8. AP: Zimbabwe Party Leader, Others in Court

Zimbabwe Party Leader, Others in Court


Tuesday March 13, 2007 11:46 AM

AP Photo JOH101

By ANGUS SHAW

Associated Press Writer

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - The leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party and
about 50 other democracy activists - many of them bandaged and bruised -
appeared in court Tuesday, two days after they were arrested for trying to
attending a prayer meeting.

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, had a large
gash on his head with about 10 stitches. His face was badly bruised and his
eyes were swollen.

The group shuffled into court after arriving on a large police truck. They
sang and chanted in defiance of a heavy police presence.

Their lawyer said no charges were immediately laid.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6476979,00.html

Earlier: Zimbabwean Police Ignore Court Order - AP

[Eugene]

10. Reuters: Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai, others sent to hospital

Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai, others sent to hospital

30 minutes ago

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and 49 other
people injured in police custody were sent to hospital for medical check-ups
on Tuesday after they arrived for a court hearing.

"I am confirming that anybody who needs medical attention should go and access
it now," state lawyer Florence Ziyambi told Tsvangirai and his colleagues at the
Harare courthouse. They were taken away in ambulances.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070313/wl_nm/zimbabwe_opposition_dc

[maddezmom]

11. Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai in hospital as outrage grows

Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai in hospital as outrage grows
13 Mar 2007 17:06:51 GMT
Source: Reuters

Background
• Zimbabwe crisis

• Zimbabwe hunger


MORE >>
By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE, March 13 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sent from court to hospital with a deep head wound on Tuesday as world outrage grew over the government's violent crackdown on political protests.

Tsvangirai, who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said he had suffered "terrible" treatment in police custody following his arrest on Sunday for attempting to attend an opposition prayer rally.

"It was sadistic to attack defenceless people," the burly former trade unionist said outside the Harare court, where he appeared limping, with a gash in his head and a swollen eye. His head was shaved where the wound had been treated. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice led international condemnation of the crackdown, saying Washington held President Robert Mugabe personally responsible for Tsvangirai's safety.

"The world community has again been shown that the regime of Robert Mugabe is ruthless and repressive and creates only suffering for the people of Zimbabwe," Rice said in a statement.

more:http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L13643122.htm

[maddezmom]

12. Tsvangirai court case delayed -lawyers

Tsvangirai court case delayed -lawyers
14 Mar 2007 08:18:07 GMT
Source: Reuters

Background
• Zimbabwe crisis

• Zimbabwe hunger


MORE >>
HARARE, March 14 (Reuters) - The court case against Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was severely injured in police custody, was delayed on Wednesday when state lawyers did not turn up, defence attorneys said.

"The prosecutors are not here, so we are going and they may have to proceed by way of summons," one of Tsvangirai's lawyers Alec Muchadehama told reporters outside a Harare magistrate court.

Tsvangirai, in hospital with head and facial wounds, was formally freed from police custody late on Tuesday.

He remains hospitalised with about a dozen other accused and did not come to the court to face charges of defying a government ban on rallies and protests.

The court session was set for 9.00-9.30 local time (0700-0730 GMT) and another defence lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said the state Attorney General's Office was not yet ready for the case against Tsvangirai, who leads the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

more:http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14275137.htm

[maddezmom]

13. CNNI reporting he's in intensive care with a cracked skull and has been given

a blood transfusion. Doesn't sound good.

reuter's has a link:
Tsvangirai in intensive care with broken skull 5 minutes ago



HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has a cracked skull and is under intensive care in hospital after being severely injured in police custody, his spokesman said on Wednesday.


"He has had two pints of blood added to his system because the doctors said he had lost a lot of blood. He has just had a brain scan because his skull is cracked," said William Bango, a spokesman for Tsvangirai, who heads the main Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Bango told Reuters by phone from Tsvangirai's hospital bed that the 55-year-old opposition chief was likely to remain in hospital for treatment for a while. "He will be here for some time. He is in the intensive care unit (ICU)," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/zimbabwe_opposition_dc;_ylt=AoQ0iFO1xUe48Yg_WP8AVZrAwtcA