Madhuku and two others arrested during NCA demo

By Violet Gonda
1 November 2006

Lovemore Madhuku, the chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) was arrested during a demonstration in Harare Wednesday. His lawyer Alex Muchadehama said the civic leader is being held at Harare Central Police Station with two other activists.

The NCA reports that more than 300 people took part in a protest march at Africa Unity Square calling for a people driven constitution. Riot police came and violently broke up the march that was going to lead to parliament. It’s reported that journalists were harassed and “about 50 NCA members have been taken to a private hospital after they sustained serious injuries from the police assaults.”

Muchadehama said the police are also violating Madhuku’s rights to his access to a lawyer, as he has not been able to speak to his client in any meaningful way. He added; “We haven’t been advised on the charges he is likely to face or the reason he has been detained in police custody.”

The lawyer said; “From sketchy details that I have received, the police were alleging that some of the members who were present there stoned a police truck or a bus.”

Meanwhile the NCA said in a statement the police broke up the demonstration and ordered the activists to lie down. But Madhuku continued to address the activists and the police, saying: “We are fighting for a genuine cause which you the police might also benefit...”

He was then bundled into a police vehicle and taken to the police station when people started to respond.

The Zimbabwean government is increasingly using its powerful state machinery to suppress voices of dissent and this is the second time in less than two months that the police have used brutal force to disperse peaceful protesters. In September senior officials from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions were brutalised by the police at the start of a demonstration calling for a better standard of living.