Anti Mugabe strikes continue amid crackdown

An anti-government strike shut down much of Zimbabwe’s economy on the second day of a national week of protest called against the increasingly repressive rule of President Robert Mugabe.

Opposition party officials who called for the protests vowed to press on with protests despite a crackdown by security forces.

Police and troops have moved quickly to crush street demonstrations, arresting scores of protesters and opposition leaders under draconian security laws that allow the government to ban any gathering.

Tear gas was fired by police in the western Harare township of Warren Park as people gathered in the streets, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said .

To quash protests, armed police and soldiers police have beaten demonstrators with batons and rifle butts and dispersed crowds with clouds of tear gas.

Streets were mostly deserted in the major cities today except for patrols by security forces, some in armoured vehicles armed with heavy machine guns.

The opposition called strikes and protests in the hope of creating the most significant challenge to Mugabe’s rule in his 23 years in power.

The strikes effectively shut down commerce in major cities, crippling an economy already hovering on the brink of collapse. There are severe shortages of food, medicine, fuel, hard currency and even local currency.

The EU warned Mugabe not to crack down on protest – urging calm instead.

The EU “calls on the government of Zimbabwe to desist from any violence and respect the rights of its citizens to demonstrate and express their views peacefully,” the EU presidency said in a statement.

It also called on demonstrators to demonstrate peacefully and urged opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to resume talks with Mugabe on resolving the crisis.

Adding to tensions, the government asked the Harare High Court to prevent Tsvangirai from continuing his call for strikes and protests.

Tsvangirai is currently on trial for treason along with two senior opposition officials for allegedly plotting to assassinate Mugabe. They deny the charges, saying the government has tried to frame them.

State attorney Joseph Musakwa said asked the court to tighten bail conditions of Tsvangirai and high ranking officials Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela by forbidding them from making “inflammatory statements” and inciting people to take part in demonstrations the government has declared illegal.

Tsvangirai’s lawyer George Bizos objected to the state’s request, and described it as “an inadmissable way to gag” the opposition leaders.

If Judge Paddington Garwe grants the state’s request, the three could be arrested for breaching new bail conditions.

Tsvangirai was arrested at his home in Harare on Monday but was later released. His party lodged an appeal before the nation’s Supreme Court against charges that he had defied an earlier court order to call off strikes and demonstrations.

Tsvangirai said violence against protesters by police and the military did not deter the party’s leaders and supporters.

“There is no doubt that Zimbabweans have overwhelmingly heeded our calls despite the security agents’ repressive methods,” he said.

“By the end of this week Zimbabweans will have driven a message home to Mugabe that they are fed up with the state of affairs in this country,” he said.