More than 250 arrested as police raid Harvest House

By Violet Gonda
26 May 2007

The MDC reports that more than 250 youths and provincial leaders were arrested when the police raided the opposition’s headquarters around lunchtime on Saturday. Nelson Chamisa the spokesperson for the Tsvangirai MDC said three truckloads of riot police raided the offices in Harare where the opposition members were attending a forum at Harvest House. He said several people were beaten and taken to CID Law and Order at Harare Central. The opposition spokesperson said the reasons for the arrests were not immediately clear.

We were not able to get a comment from the police.

Scores of opposition and civic activists have been under attack for several years now, but the last three months have seen an escalation of state sponsored violence, including abductions and killings. Since March the attacks have also spread to include lawyers, journalists and church leaders. There are also 32 political prisoners who have been in custody for over two months.