Zimbabwe opposition leader arrested and charged with treason
Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested after a news conference in which he vowed to press ahead with protests against Mr Mugabe, whom he accuses of being an illegitimate and increasingly incompetent leader.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Mr Tsvangirai was being charged with treason in connection with a series of statements since the disputed March 2002 elections that allegedly incited his supporters to violence.
Mr Tsvangirai, who urged Zimbabweans to turn out “in their millions” this week to express their dissatisfaction with Mr Mugabe, has launched a legal challenge to Mugabe’s 2002 election in polls widely decried as fraudulent.
Lawyer Innocent Chagonda said Mr Tsvangirai, who is already on trial for treason in connection with an alleged plot on Mugabe’s life, would be held until today when he was due to appear before a magistrate.
Mr Tsvangirai was briefly detained last Monday and government lawyers are now seeking a court order to ban him from making “inflammatory” comments or inciting the public.
Yesterday, on the last day of a five-day campaign of MDC protests which the government has declared illegal, thousands of young men wearing white T-shirts emblazoned with the words “No to Mass Action” flooded central Harare, apparently to discourage any attempts by MDC protesters to take to the streets.
In his news conference, Mr Tsvangirai conceded the bruising response to the protest drive, which began on Monday, had left MDC supporters reluctant to stage open demonstrations.
But he described the party’s week-long drive to boost pressure on Mr Mugabe had been an overwhelming success.
He vowed the opposition would continue to protest against a leader they accuse of both political repression and economic mismanagement.
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