On Friday, four democracy campaigners who were demanding the release of opposition leader Jameson Timba had their hearing postponed, as more opposition figures were taken into custody in Zimbabwe.
Since it came to power in 1980, the ZANU-PF party has been accused by critics for a long time of stifling dissent and democracy. Ahead of a regional summit that Zimbabwe is hosting in August, Human Rights Watch finds that the crackdown on the opposition and civil society is becoming more intense. Home Minister Kazembe Kazembe asserted that the opposition is orchestrating protests in the vicinity of the summit in an effort to draw attention from abroad by threatening a “heavy-handed response.” Timba was one of numerous people arrested in June. Jacob Ngarivhume, an opposition politician, and a religious leader were among the other people arrested on Friday. The four activists who were detained in Harare on Wednesday will now appear in court on Monday. They were accused of violating public disorder laws by taking part in demonstrations calling for Timba’s release. Timashe Chinopfukutwa, the activists’ attorney, stated outside the court that the activists had been the victims of “both physical and mental torture.”
Furthermore, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) reports that on Thursday, 14 individuals were taken into custody in the small hamlet of Kariba. Emmanuel Sitima, the president of the Zimbabwean National Students Union, was also taken into custody on Friday in Harare.