Zimbabwe

Court lifts ban on oppositon rallies

Article published on the 2008-06-08 Latest update 2008-06-08 10:54 TU

Morgan Tsvangirai campaigning
(Photo: AFP)

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is campaigning in Harare again, after a court told police that they cannot ban the party's rallies in the capital. Meanwhile, an opposition MP has been arrested, accused of inciting violence, and the government has introduced a tax on foreign newspapers. Zambia's founding leader, Kenneth Kaunda, has called for a coalition government to end Zimbabwe's political crisis.

The High Court overturned a ban on rallies in several townships in Harare.

In a letter to the MDC, police had told the party that its claims of assassination threats had not been confirmed by their investigations but that they were "not prepared to take any chances by exposing you to the public who may be possible assassins".

The MDC has held few rallies so far and its candidate for the presidency, Morgan Tsvangirai, was detained by police twice last week.

MDC MP Eric Matinenga was arrested for "incitement to public violence" on Saturday. A court had dismissed the same charge against him two days before.

Police suspect him of paying opposition activists who have been accused of attacking supporters of President Robert Mugabe.

Twenty-eight other MDC members and eight Mugabe supporters have been arrested over the discovery of a cache of weapons, according to the state-run Herald newspaper.

The paper also reports that the government has introduced duty on imported print media because of "the flood of hostile foreign newspapers coming into Zimbabwe".

Zimbabwe Union of Journalists president Matthew Takaona told RFI that the move is a sign of the government's "desperation".

Meanwhile, former Zambian leader Kenneth Kaunda, who is a friend of Mugabe, proposed that Zimbabwe have a unity government, similar to the one recently established in Kenya, with Mugabe as president and Tsvangirai as prime minister.