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Cops beat up teachers' leader
10/10/2002 13:34 - (SA)
Harare - Raymond Majongwe, the leader of a Zimbabwe teachers' union which has called its members to an indefinite strike, has been "seriously injured" while in police custody, his lawyer Raymond Majongwe said on Thursday.
"He has been beaten and when I saw him yesterday (Wednesday) night, he couldn't sit on his own. I think he has some broken ribs and internal bleeding," said Gunje. "He has not received medical attention."
"I will file an urgent application to secure his release."
Majongwe handed himself over to police on Wednesday, the second day of a teachers' strike called by the Progressive Teachers Union Zimbabwe (PTUZ). Police earlier went to his house looking for him, said Innocent Shibanda, the national co-ordinator of the PTUZ.
Police spokesperson Andrew Phiri said Gunje's allegations would be investigated.
Phiri confirmed on Wednesday that police were holding Majongwe and that he was due to be charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA).
An offence
He said the POSA makes it an offence for "any person who, acting in concert with one or more other persons, forcibly invade the rights of other people".
Neither Gunje nor Phiri could confirm whether PTUZ
president Takavafira Zhou was arrested on Wednesday, as the union claimed.
But, Phiri said Zhou "is also wanted to answer the same allegations as Majongwe".
Police have alleged that Majongwe, Zhou and two others went around schools where they threatened teachers who wanted to work and disrupted classes.
The PTUZ called a strike to demand a 100% salary
increase backdated to January and a 100% cost of living
adjustment backdated to June.
A high school teacher in Zimbabwe takes home Z$20 000 (US$364) a month.
The response to the strike call has been mixed, with some
teachers, mainly in urban areas, reporting for duty but not
teaching.
Education, Sport and Culture Minister Aneas Chigwedere has
called the strike illegal, even after conceding last week that
teachers in Zimbabwe are the lowest paid in the southern African
region. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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