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Renewed clashes in Zim
05/03/2007 19:10 - (SA)
Harare - Police on Monday threatened opposition party supporters, who had defied a ban on rallies amid reports of renewed street clashes and the arrest of more than a dozen trade unionists at the weekend.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena has warned defiant opposition supporters that the wrath of the law will catch up with them, said ZBC radio.
Police fought running battles on Sunday with youths loyal to Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party in Harare's Budiriro township, state media reported.
The Herald newspaper said youths had barricaded roads into the suburb using bonfires and burning tyres after police moved in to stop the rally going ahead.
Police have banned all rallies and demonstrations in Harare and its dormitory town of Chitungwiza following street battles in the suburb of Highfield two weeks ago. The opposition has vowed not to be intimidated by the ban.
Police will use the necessary measures to ensure the ban effected under Section 27 of the Public Order and Security Act is enforced, said state radio on Monday.
On Sunday, shops in Budiriro closed down and street vendors deserted their stalls as battles raged, said the Herald.
Tensions rise
The opposition has not confirmed the skirmishes yet. The Herald quoted the MDC's organising secretary, former Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri, who said he had not travelled to Budiriro because the rally had been cancelled.
As tensions rise, the main Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said in a statement that the editor of a newspaper for workers and 13 union activists had been arrested at the weekend.
Bright Chibvuri, the editor of The Worker, the union's official newspaper, was arrested on Saturday while attending a ZCTU workshop in the southern town of Plumtree, said information officer Khumbulani Ndlovu.
Chibvuri has been charged under Zimbabwe's notorious Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which says only journalists licensed by a state media commission can ply their trade, said Ndlovu.
Meanwhile, in Chegutu, central Zimbabwe, 13 activists were arrested while attending what the ZCTU called an orientation workshop.
The ZCTU is planning a nationwide absenteeism from April 3-4, in a move likely to be met with fierce resistance by President Robert Mugabe's government.
- SAPA
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