Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) president
Takudzwa Ngadziore and secretary-general Tapiwanashe Chiriga were arrested on
Friday after allegedly staging the protest outside the Harare magistrates’
court the previous day.
The duo appeared before magistrate Vongai Guwuriro
yesterday and were remanded to tomorrow for the bail ruling. Prosecutors
opposed bail.
Ngadziore and Chiriga were allegedly part of a group that
held a demonstration demanding the release of pro-democracy campaigner
Makomborero Haruzivishe.
Haruzivishe was arrested over a week ago on a slew of
allegations that included taking part in anti-government protests during the
lockdown.
Ngadziore and Chiriga allegedly demanded the resignation of
Matanga while addressing journalists outside the courts.
Meanwhile, Chiriga and Nancy Njenge, a Zinasu member, were yesterday granted bail
on charges of violating Covid-19 lockdown regulations after they allegedly
participated in the demonstration.
The student leaders are being represented by Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR) members Tinashe Chinopfukutwa and Jeremiah Bamu. But
Chiriga remains in custody for the other offence.
ZLHR communications officer Kumbirai Mafunda was also
arrested on the same day while covering court cases, but was released without
charge after Chinopfukutwa and Bamu’s intervention.
Another student leader, Alan Moyo, was released last week
after spending 71 days in detention without trial following his arrest last
year for allegedly calling for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ouster.
Mnangagwa has been accused by United Nations experts of
using lockdowns to slow down the spread of the coronavirus to close the
democratic space.
Several government critics have been arrested since the
government first introduced lockdowns in March last year.
The activists were accused of violating Covid-19 lockdown
regulations by organising protests. Standard
0 comments:
Post a Comment