Two staff members from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) were summoned to police headquarters Monday morning to answer charges of illegally dealing in foreign currency. Vimbayi Mushoniwa and Elijah Muteneri, both from the ZCTU economy department, were then ushered to court where they pleaded not guilty to all charges and were released on one million dollar bail each. They are due to appear back in court on September 13th.

ZCTU spokesman Mlamleli Sibanda said the charges may have stemmed from a raid of their offices a couple of months ago when their computer equipment and some files were taken by state agents. The ZCTU leadership of president Lovemore Matombo and secretary general Wellington Chibhebhe have also been under attack in a government campaign to replace them with a pair more sympathetic to the government.