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Police block PM rally

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AT LEAST 40 armed riot police officers last night blocked MDC-T leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai from addressing a “Yes” vote campaign rally at Zimbabwe Hall in Highfield, Harare, arguing the meeting had not been sanctioned by the law enforcement agents.

AT LEAST 40 armed riot police officers last night blocked MDC-T leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai from addressing a “Yes” vote campaign rally at Zimbabwe Hall in Highfield, Harare, arguing the meeting had not been sanctioned by the law enforcement agents.

STAFF REPORTERS

The police later dispersed about 2 000 people who had gathered for the Premier’s address, just before Tsvangirai’s arrival at the venue. He is understood to have had already arrived in the suburb for the meeting.

Although the riot police details claimed they had been ordered by their superiors, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said she was unaware of the incident.

MDC-T national organising secretary Nelson Chamisa described the incident as an affront to democracy.

“It makes the possibility of a free and fair election difficult. If you can’t have the freedom to associate and assemble on the referendum what more during the election?” Chamisa said.

Party provincial spokesperson Obert Gutu also said: “It’s not fair because the Prime Minister was planning to address residents and the police sent its riot team to disperse the crowd and if we have this at the referendum stage what do you think will happen when we go for an election proper?”

Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka condemned the move saying: “the election environment is not conducive. If they are able to bar a platform where we are campaigning for a ‘Yes’ vote together with Zanu PF we can only imagine what will happen when we are contesting in the election.

“As far as we are concerned a letter was written to the Commissioner-General of Police and the police were duly notified so we are shocked and startled by this development.”

Zanu PF and the two MDCs have agreed to campaign for a “Yes” vote in support of the draft constitution.

Meanwhile, 14 MDC-T supporters who were arrested in Chegutu over the weekend on charges of obstructing the course of justice were yesterday remanded in custody to tomorrow after the court reserved judgment in their bail application.

The suspects’ lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara said the State had opposed the bail application arguing that it needed more time to verify the MDC-T activists’ residential addresses.