'Militants' prevent MDC rally
2008-06-08 16:15
Harare - Opposition officials accused ruling party militants of preventing the Movement for Democratic Change from holding a rally on Sunday, a day after a court lifted a ban on opposition rallies.
MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said President Robert Mugabe's supporters cordoned off the area where opposition leaders were to speak in a Harare suburb, forcing the opposition to cancel the rally.
However, two other gatherings will go ahead as planned in Harare, Chamisa said. A court on Saturday had struck down a police ban on opposition rallies.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, meanwhile, continued campaigning on Sunday in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second main city, his spokesperson George Sibotshiwe said.
Court orders MP's release
Tsvangirai faces off against Mugabe in a presidential run-off on June 27. Tsvangirai won the most votes in the first round in March but not enough to avoid a run-off.
Also on Sunday, a court ordered police to release opposition lawmaker Eric Matinenga, who was taken from his home on Saturday and detained at a station outside the capital.
He was accused of fomenting violence, lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said.
Matinenga, also detained on similar charges earlier in the week but released due to lack of evidence, is among scores of opposition activists arrested in recent weeks.
Matinenga, himself an attorney, has represented opposition leaders in a string of high-profile court cases.
Tsvangirai's party, blaming state agents, says at least 60 of its supporters have been killed in the past two months.
- AP