A magistrate freed 52 people, including 14 labour leaders, two days after their arrest during nationwide demonstrations against President Robert Mugabe’s autocratic rule and the country’s economic hardships.
Nearly 90 people were arrested on Tuesday, including 52 people arrested in the capital — among them the four top leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. The 52 detainees made their first appearance on Thursday before Magistrate Sukai Tongogara.
Tongogara released them on the condition that they return on Friday to face charges of violating the nation’s strict security laws by organising an illegal political demonstration, said their attorney, Alec Muchadehama. The offence is punishable by up to six months in jail.
Union officials said the group’s release was delayed by confusion among police and state attorneys about what charges to bring against them. Some members of the group were told on Wednesday they would be charged with the lesser offence of obstructing traffic in downtown Harare.
Labour leaders called for a nationwide strike to protest Tuesday’s arrests, but it failed to take hold on Thursday.
Mlamleli Sibanda, a federation spokesperson, said there was insufficient time to mobilise workers.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of economic and political crisis with official inflation running at 526%, one of the highest levels in the world.
Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa gave an even bleaker forecast on Thursday as he announced the annual budget, warning inflation could rise to a high of 700% in the first quarter of next year before starting to dissipate.
Murerwa said government services like health and education declined sharply this year; industry was running at below 50% capacity, and most of the country’s infrastructure was crumbling. The country also faces a record 13,2% decline in the gross domestic product.
Opponents blame Mugabe’s authoritarian rule, including the often-violent seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to impoverished blacks.
Murerwa said the government aims to introduce a series of fiscal measures, including government belt-tightening.
”The challenges are surmountable,” Murerwa said. ”It is … imperative we avoid aborting painful measures” toward recovery. – Sapa-AP