The MDC-T says it will petition Sadc at its summit next month over the continued incarceration of youth leader Solomon Madzore and several other party activists who have been held in remand prison for close to eight months on allegations of murdering a police officer last year.
The activists face charges of murdering Inspector Petros Mutedza in Glen View, an allegation they all deny.
Speaking on the sidelines of a protest march dubbed “Free Solomon Madzore and others” staged by hundreds of party youths on Friday in Masvingo, MDC-T youth secretary Promise Mkwananzi said they woud soon approach the regional bloc over the continued incarcerations.
“We have a multi-pronged strategy. Apart from the demonstrations, we are also going to pile political pressure through our Prime Minister as well as petition Sadc. We are prepared to take it further to the African Union if they are not released.
“We want to make sure the issue of political prisoners is put on the agenda of the next Sadc meeting. This is failure by Zanu PF to abide by the tenets of the Government of National Unity,” Mkwananzi said.
Similar demonstrations have been held in Harare and Bulawayo. MDC-T youth spokesperson Clifford Hlatswayo said the detention of the party activists was “illegal and unconstitutional”.
“They are innocent people who deserve to be given bail and enjoy fundamental and democratic freedoms as citizens of Zimbabwe. We condemn the partisan approach by the Attorney-General’s Office and we call for his resignation because he has failed to be professional,” Hlatswayo said.
“This is selective application of the law. We have people who killed our supporters in previous elections who are walking scot-free.
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“We also have people involved in the Gukurahundi massacres who are yet to taste jail.” He added: “This shows that Zanu PF is using the courts taking advantage of its Justice minister.
“They want to destabilise the operations of the youth assembly and divert our attention because they know youths are the vanguard of any revolution.”
