Over 200 MDC supporters released without charge

By Tichaona Sibanda
29 April 2008

Over 200 MDC supporters arrested by the regime last week have been released without charge. However, the police are still holding three others on allegations of engaging in political violence.

Heavily armed police officers last week Friday raided the MDC headquarters and led away about 215 party supporters who had sought sanctuary there, from the Zanu PF campaign of violence.

Alex Muchadehama, the lawyer representing the MDC supporters, said his clients should not have been arrested in the first place. He accused the police of abducting them in the hope they would not tell the world of their ordeal at the hands of Zanu-PF militias.

‘These people did not commit any crime at all. They are victims of political persecution. They simply fled their homes to seek refuge at the offices of the MDC. After five days in custody, we demanded that either they be charged or released,’ Muchadehama said.

The MDC lawyer obtained a High Court order for their release on Monday, but the police defied it and waited until Tuesday to release them. Police had released some of the elderly and breast feeding women, prior to the court order.

‘The police actions towards MDC supporters is unacceptable. They are acting with impunity and they had no basis to hold them for this long,’ he said.

‘We have people who have been tortured and beaten so bad the police now want to treat them as the perpetrators and not the victims. This is not only absurd but also it’s ridiculous,’ Muchadehama said.