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Zim cops 'beat up' Tsvangirai
12/03/2007 13:57 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwean police beat up opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai so badly he had to be taken to hospital, an opposition official claimed on Monday.
There had been what amounted to an attempted assassination of Tsvangirai, said Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, secretary for international relations in the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
He said the opposition leader had sustained serious head injuries in police custody and had been taken to hospital in the early hours of Monday for treatment.
"They kept him away from medical attention until this morning," Mukonoweshuro told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in a telephone interview.
Tsvangirai and dozens of other civic and political leaders were arrested and detained on Sunday after they tried to defy a police ban on rallies and hold a prayer meeting in Harare's restive Highfield suburb.
Skirmishes broke out between police and suspected opposition activists in the wake of the thwarted rally. At least one MDC member was shot dead by police.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition claimed in a statement on Monday that other activists, including MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa and Combined Harare Residents Association chairman Mike Davies, had been tortured and assaulted while in police custody.
Police have not confirmed the claims.
Mukonoweshuro said he did not expect Tsvangirai to be brought to court soon, although lawyers were trying to secure his release.
Observers said it appeared the police were trying to play delaying tactics to ensure Tsvangirai's wounds are not as glaring when he appears publicly as they are at present.
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Zimbabwe Special Report
