Police arrested another 24 people at the World Cup cricket match being played in the western city of Bulawayo on Tuesday for allegedly violating security laws that outlaw public protest against President Robert Mugabe’s government, lawyers said.
The 24 were arrested at the Queens Park grounds where Zimbabwe were playing Pakistan and were being held at Bulawayo central police station under the Public Order and Security Act, said lawyer Kucaca Pulu.
He did not know under what circumstances they were arrested because officers of the police ”law and order” section responsible for monitoring political activity had gone home early, he said.
As controversy over Zimbabwe’s holding of World Cup matches continued, spectators said police had sharply stepped up security at the grounds following demonstrations at two previous matches to protest against Mugabe’s campaign of repression of critics.
The new batch of protesters took the place in the faeces-smeared cells of Bulawayo central of 39 who were arrested on Friday after the World Cup match between Zimbabwe and Holland for holding banners and wearing black armbands.
They were finally taken to court on Tuesday and released late in the afternoon after four nights in crowded cells with no provision for food or water and where toilet facilities comprised a 10 litre bucket shared among men and women in the same cells.
One of the prisoners was suffering from tuberculosis, which is highly infectious and potentially fatal. – Sapa