ZCTU leader released from police custody

By Lance Guma
17 August 2006

The Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Wellington Chibhebhe was released from police custody Thursday afternoon. He spent 2 nights in custody after police at a roadblock assaulted him before carrying out an arrest.

On Wednesday ZCTU spokesman Mlamleli Sibanda told us Chibhebhe was travelling from Masvingo to Harare over the Heroes holiday before being stopped at the roadblock. The union leader attracted the wrath of the police after questioning the legality of the currency searches. He was slapped twice by officers in the full view of his wife and children.

Critics have slammed the assault as a deliberate attempt to harass the ZCTU leadership. Messages from unions around the world had been pouring into the country demanding Chibhebhe’s release. The state media tried their best to deflect attention from his assault by saying it was Chibhebhe in fact who had assaulted the police. The ZCTU chief referred all questions to his lawyer Alec Muchadehama but it was not possible for Newsreel to get hold of him at the time of going on air.