Harare - Dozens of people appeared in a Zimbabwe court on
Monday charged with violence or incitement over a recent strike as a
recount of votes from last month's disputed elections, in which
President Robert Mugabe is trying to cling to power, dragged on for a
third day.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) called the
April 15 strike to press for the release of results from last month's
presidential elections.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims he won the March 29 election
outright after his party won the elections to the lower house of
parliament.
But Mugabe's Zanu-PF party says there was no clear winner in the
presidential vote and that a run-off is required.
An independent electoral observation non-governmental organization
(NGO) also estimated neither candidate took more than 50 per cent,
but put Tsvangirai very close.
The state-controlled Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has refused to
release the election results, citing objections to the results and
the need for verification, while agreeing to recount votes cast in 23
constituencies at the behest of Zanu-PF.
As the recount of votes for both president and parliament that the
MDC is boycotting dragged into a third day, around 30 people appeared
in the magistrate's court charged variously with inciting violence,
attempted murder, public violence and malicious damage to property.
A freelance journalist, Frank Chikowore, who was arrested while
covering the burning of a bus and charged with arson, arrived in
court with his mouth gagged - in a show of protest over the silencing
of some journalists by Mugabe's government.
One female suspect who had a swollen red face and red eye, which
her lawyer Charles Kwaramba said was inflicted in a beating by
soldiers, limped out of the dock after her hearing was over.
The magistrate deferred a decision on their bail application until
Tuesday.
The MDC and rights groups have accused youth militia and soldiers
loyal to Mugabe's party of attacking scores of people suspected of
voting for the MDC and Tsvangirai since the election.
The MDC claims 10 of its supporters have been killed, 3,000
families displaced and around 500 people hospitalized in the
violence.
New York-based Human Rights Watch last week also reported the
establishment of torture camps, where it said people were punished
for voting for the MDC.
The government for its part has accused the MDC of trying to curry
international support for its election victory.
'It's so peaceful. We're just sitting here with my friends having
a glass of wine,' Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told
South African radio.
The reports of violence against civilians has provoked alarm over
the arrival in southern African waters of a Chinese ship bearing arms
for Zimbabwe.
After hightailing it out of the South African port of Durban on
Friday following a court order to impound the cargo, the ship was
reportedly headed west towards Angola.
A South African Defence Ministry spokesman told SAPA news agency
the vessel was situated off South Africa's west coast.
South Africa's trade union federation COSATU and the South Africa
Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) on Monday called for an
international boycott of the vessel, which SATAWU dock workers in
Durban had refused to unload.
'COSATU is doing everything possible to alert the international
trade union movement to the danger to the workers of Zimbabwe if the
cargo is allowed to be unloaded and delivered to Mugabe's forces,'
the federation said in a statement.
SATAWU also called on trade unions in other African countries to
to refuse to handle the 'lethal cargo.'
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