Tsvangirai charged with treason

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was on Friday charged with treason after police accused him of holding nationwide rallies and urging his supporters to oust President Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai’s lawyer said.

Tsvangirai was arrested after vowing that his party would continue with mass anti-government protests. The arrest is the second this week, with Zimbabwe authorities having detained the opposition leader early on Monday after he defied a court order banning opposition-led protests against President Robert Mugabe’s government. He was released the same afternoon, charged with contempt of court.

”We suspect they want to lock him up for the weekend,” an opposition official said.

Tsvangirai had been arrested ”for utterances he is accused of making at a rally,” said the official, who asked not to be named.

Tsvangirai’s lawyer, Innocent Chagonda confirmed the arrest Friday, but said he did not have details.

Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, told a press conference that the past five days of anti-government protests called by his party had been ”the most successful and the most devastating”.

”From now on we will embark on rolling mass action at strategic times of our choice without any warning to the dictatorship,” he said.

”More action is certainly on the way.”

The government had obtained a court order declaring this week’s mass action illegal. On Thursday the government went to court again to enforce that order, following an appeal lodged by the MDC.

The MDC had called for a week of pro-democracy marches and job stayaways, which it dubbed ”the final push”, to protest at Mugabe’s style of governance, which the opposition has accused of plunging Zimbabwe into far-reaching economic and social crises.

Many businesses shut down throughout the week of protests, but attempts to demonstrate in the streets were crushed by police.

The opposition leader condemned what he referred to as the ”brute force and mass reprisals” used by the government to crush attempts by his supporters to hold street marches. He claimed it showed Mugabe was no longer ”a civilian leader”.

”His power now lies completely in the forces of repression,” Tsvangirai said.

In an unprecedented show of force, Zimbabwe’s capital teemed with riot police, soldiers, and militias on Friday as authorities attempted to foil opposition calls for mass marches demanding an end to Mugabe’s rule. Military helicopters swooped over Harare’s skies while below, about 2 000 ruling party militiamen took position alongside soldiers and paramilitary police. Some were posted at key intersections, others patrolled the streets.

Pro-Mugabe supporters also rallied, wearing T-shirts proclaiming ”No more mass action”.

Army trucks and jeeps ferried soldiers through the city while police in patrol cars cruised city streets reporting any suspicious movements by radio on Friday, the final day of the week long mass action called by the opposition.

Amateur video from Zimbabwe broadcast in Britain on Friday showed a man armed with a bayonet threatening to set fire to a car if the cameraperson refused to hand over her camera during clashes between protesters and security forces earlier this week.

Laurinda Whitehead refused to give up the camera, and said she and a companion raced around Zimbabwe’s capital Harare for 20 minutes before they were able to shake off their attacker.

The video was shot on Monday as students at Zimbabwe University, gathering for a protest march, were dispersed with tear gas. Some were seen being beaten by soldiers.

The video footage shows a man clambering on to the back of the car Whitehead was travelling in, saying, ”I want the camera.”

Whitehead is then heard screaming: ”He’s getting matches. Hurry up. Hurry up, for Christ’s sake!”

The male driver is then heard shouting: ”Help me, get this man off here; he’s trying to burn my car. Help!”

Before his arrest, Tsvangirai said his party still favoured dialogue as the way out of the current crises.

”The only way out of this crisis is through sincere dialogue between the parties, and we are ready for that.” – Sapa, Sapa-AP, Sapa-AFP