BY MOSES MATENGA
Harare West Member of Parliament Joanah Mamombe (MDC Alliance) and party activists Netsai Marowa and Cecilia Chimbiri were yesterday arrested for demonstrating outside the New Government Complex.
Both the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and the police confirmed the arrests.
“No charges yet, even after lawyer Charles Kwaramba engaged the police. This appears to be an arrest to investigate, contrary to the dictates of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act that requires an ‘arrest after investigating’,” the ZLHR said in a statement.
But the ZRP said the trio was arrested after a flash demonstration yesterday outside the New Government Complex.
“The trio, who were in a Toyota Fortuner vehicle without number plates, followed a police vehicle with officers who had attended the scene and used abusive and obscene language on the officers, thus leading to their arrests,” ZRP spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said in a statement.
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MDC Alliance deputy spokesperson Clifford Hlatywayo described the fresh arrests of the trio as “weaponisation and the abuse of State institutions”.
Their arrest coincided with the release of Zengeza West MP Job Sikhala on $25 000 bail yesterday, ending his three-week incarceration for allegedly publishing falsehoods on social media.
The opposition party’s secretary for international relations Gladys Hlatywayo said: “The continued persecution and victimisation of these three women says a lot about the character of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his regime. They were abducted, tortured, sexually abused and arrested several times. Today they have been arrested again,” she said.
The three were allegedly abducted last year in Warren Park, Harare following a flash demonstration against corruption.
They were allegedly abducted and sexually abused, and then dumped in Mashonaland Central. The State alleges that the women lied about their ordeal and charged them with spreading falsehoods. They are out on bail.