AP: Battered Zimbabwean activists released

[ellisonz]

Battered Zimbabwean activists released
By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer Tue Mar 13, 7:11 PM ET

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Police released dozens of bruised and bloodied opposition activists to the custody of their attorneys late Tuesday, while the country's main opposition leader was treated at a hospital for injuries his lawyer said were the result of savage police beatings.

The activists were ordered to return to court Wednesday morning after police took them from a hospital to the magistrates court in the capital, Harare, on Tuesday night for an unscheduled appearance, said Beatrice Mtetwa, a lawyer for the group. She said no state prosecutor or magistrate was at the court.

"The fact that there was no prosecutor, no magistrate, no court officials — only police — says a lot," she said. "It says that we are in a police state."

Mtetwa said about 12 of the 50 activists who had been arrested Sunday remained at a hospital, including main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_re_af/zimbabwe_unrest;_ylt=AoCiyMoHZGzA7n9wOq2zb8.96Q8F