Posted on 12/22/2002 6:05:40 AM PST by Clive
Harare - Police in Zimbabwe arrested at least 10 student activists on charges of assaulting supporters of the ruling party, state radio reported on Saturday.
Police spokesperson Bothwell Mugariri confirmed the arrests, which took place on Friday morning at a students' congress.
The 10 students were being held on assault charges, but the political affiliation of those who were assaulted could not immediately be confirmed, Mugariri said.
But Paul Munjenge, the legal secretary of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) denied the charges, and said up to 14 students were being held without charge in a jail outside Harare.
He told reporters that police broke up a congress the union held on Friday that was scheduled to be addressed by opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.
Munjenge claimed the police also wanted to know personal details about the union's executive members, including their political affiliation.
"It looks like the government is now having a clamp-down on students," he said.
He said 10 of those arrested were "very strong" opposition activists.
Four others were arrested in the low-income suburb of Kuwadzana for having documents relating to the congress, Munjenge claimed, but this has not been confirmed by police. - Sapa-AFP
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.