Activist pastor arrested as Zimbabwe president denounces ‘wanton violence’

POLICE IN Zimbabwe armed with AK-47 rifles have arrested activist and pastor Evan Mawarire at his home in Harare as a crackdown grows over protests against dramatic fuel price hikes.

As some hungry Harare residents reported being tear-gassed by police when they ventured out for bread, President Emmerson Mnangagwa denounced what he called “wanton violence and cynical destruction”.

He noted a right to protest and called for calm, saying he understands people’s “pain and frustration”, but he appeared to side with authorities who have blamed the opposition for any unrest. Mr Mawarire, who organised what became nationwide anti-government protests in 2016 against mismanagement and then-president Robert Mugabe’s long stay in power, was clutching a Bible when police bundled him into their car.

“They are alleging that he incited violence through Twitter and other forms of social media in the central business district,” Mr Mawarire’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said.

There were widespread reports of violence as the country faced a third day of protests over what has become the world’s most expensive petrol.

This is Zimbabwe’s worst unrest since deadly post-election violence in August that saw six people killed.

Zimbabwe’s largest telecom company Econet sent text messages to customers saying it had been forced by the government to shut down internet service.

Armed police and soldiers broke up groups of more than five people in Harare, while desperation for food forced some people to venture into the streets, but virtually all shops were closed.

Police fired tear gas after a crowd tried to overrun a shopping centre that opened to sell bread. Soldiers with AK-47s took charge of the long line.

“This kind of life is unbearable, we have soldiers at fuel queues and now soldiers again are controlling the bread queue,” one man said. “Are we at war?”