Demonstrators expected to be released after paying fines

By Tichaona Sibanda
22 February 2006

Police in Harare have charged 43 National Constitutional Assembly demonstrators under the Miscellaneous Offences Act and have fined each of them Z$250 000.

It is now expected that police will release them if they pay the fines.

All the 43 women spent the night in police cells after they were arrested on Tuesday demonstrating close to Robert Mugabe’s offices and demanding a new constitution.

NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku told us on Wednesday that his organisation was frantically trying to raise Z$10 million to pay for the fines.

‘This is a fund-raising exercise by the police because those women did nothing wrong. Basically they are going to pay admission of guilt fines which hve been set at Z$250 000 each,’ said Madhuku.

In a statement on Tuesday, the NCA alleged that some of the demonstrators were beaten up by the police. Lawyer Alec Muchadehama said on Tuesday it would appear that the police are maintaining that they were demonstrating illegally.