Protest organiser, journo held

Zimbabwe police have arrested an opposition official and a journalist, accusing them of inciting violence ahead of street demonstrations planned for next week by activists who charge government graft has exacerbated economic hardship.

The journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, has a huge following on

Twitter, where he regularly posts about alleged government corruption. He has also been using his account to encourage Zimbabweans to speak out and act against corruption.

“They are breaking into my home. Alert the world!” Chin’ono tweeted as police raided his home on Monday. His lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said he was detained at a police station in the capital, Harare, but was being denied access to lawyers.

The arrest of Chin’ono, a Harvard University Nieman Fellow, drew sharp criticism in Zimbabwe and abroad. “Political intimidation of the press has no place in democracies,” tweeted the US embassy in Harare.

The Dutch embassy described his arrest as “part of a worrying trend against free speech in Zimbabwe”.

The organiser of the planned 31 July protest, opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, is also in police custody, said Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which is providing lawyers for him.

Police spokesman Paul Nyathi said Chin’ono and Ngarivhume have been charged with “incitement to participate in public violence” and would appear in court “soon”.

Journalists, lawyers, doctors and nurses are among hundreds who have been arrested in recent months in Zimbabwe for protesting, striking for better pay or simply doing their work as tensions rise. – News24 Wire