'Abducted' Zimbabwe Opposition Youth Leaders Charged By Police

Zimbabwean authorities have charged three opposition youth leaders allegedly kidnapped and brutalised by police this month with promoting "public violence" and breaching coronavirus lockdown rules, a lawyers rights group said

Harare, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th May, 2020 ) :Zimbabwean authorities have charged three opposition youth leaders allegedly kidnapped and brutalised by police this month with promoting "public violence" and breaching coronavirus lockdown rules, a lawyers rights group said.

Joanna Mamombe, Netsai Marova and Cecilia Chimbiri say they were abducted by police at a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party protest in Zimbabwe's capital Harare on May 13.

The prominent members of the MDC's youth wing were found dumped on the side of a road two days later and taken to hospital, where they are still recovering from multiple injuries.

MDC leader Nelson Chamisa said they had been severely beaten and sexually assaulted.

Zimbabwe's national police has since charged the trio for "participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence", Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said in a statement on Tuesday.

They have also been accused of taking part in an "illegal demonstration" during a nationwide lockdown to stem coronavirus.

MDC youth secretary Lovejoy Chitengu and councillor Stanley Manyenga have also been charged with the same offences for attending the protest.

Manyenga allegedly carried a placard inscribed with the words "Unlock Us Before We Revolt".

ZLHR have stepped in to represent the youth.

"We are shocked and concerned that police have chosen to press criminal charges against the three women who are still in hospital and should in fact be protected," ZLHR spokesman Kumbirai Mafunda told AFP on Wednesday.

"We still appeal to the police to do the right thing by arresting the perpetrators and send a message that Zimbabwe does not condone the abduction and torture of people." Police have denied any involvement in the abduction.

The May 13 demonstration had been called to protest against hunger caused by the lockdown, which was imposed on March 30 and has left many Zimbabweans out of work.

To date the southern African country has detected just 56 cases of coronavirus, including four deaths.

Rights groups have criticised President Emmerson Mnangagwa for turning increasingly repressive and quashing dissent since he came to power in 2017.

Chamisa claims 49 MDC members were abducted by police officials last year.