Two WOZA members still in police custody after Bulawayo protests

By Tererai Karimakwenda
May 05, 2008

Most members from Women and Men f Zimbabwe Arise, who were arrested on Monday after police violently disrupted a peaceful demonstration in Bulawayo, were released without charge by the end of the day. Many of the arrested had been considered missing when police drove away with them and denied lawyers information and access.

According to WOZA coordinator Jenni Williams, they had all been taken to different police stations around Bulawayo. But 2, namely Trust Moyo and Cynthia Ncube, are still in police custody. They are at Bulawayo Central Police Station where they are being charged with ‘distributing materials likely to cause a breach of the peace’. Williams said they are expected to appear in court on Wednesday.

The WOZA members had planned to deliver a petition demanding that the Chief Election Officer declare MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai the country’s president, as he is the candidate that secured the greatest number of votes in the March 29 elections. They also said they wanted to make it clear that they do not want a run-off election, because they believe it will only result in more state-sponsored violence.
59 members received medical treatment for injuries caused by baton sticks.

Williams said Trust was beaten by police on the street and also in the police vehicle that took him and Cynthia out of town and to a busy area near the army barracks. They were finally taken to Bulawayo Central. It is not clear why they were driven around or how they are being treated in custody. Three more members received medical treatment on Wednesday for injuries sustained when they were struck by a police vehicle.

WOZA is appealing to everyone to call Bulawayo Central Police Station to demand that these members be released, and to ask police why peaceful demonstrators who were calling for an end to violence were beaten so badly. The number is Bulawayo 72515 or 61706.