elections - Morgan Tsvangirai - Robert Mugabe - Zimbabwe

Tsvangirai released from detention in Zimbabwe

Wednesday 04 June 2008

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested in southwestern Zimbabwe, according to an MDC party spokesman, then released. The detention came just days before the presidential run-off against rival Robert Mugabe.

While President  Robert Mugabe is in Rome, far from Zimbabwe, for the FAO summit, the tension has mounted a notch in Harare. Morgan Tsvangirai, the president of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was arrested at a roadblock in the southwest of the country according to an MDC spokesperson, then released hours later without charge.

Tsvangirai was campaigning for the second round of voting in the presidential election, scheduled for June 27th. He had been arrested along with all his entourage, “in particular his security personnel and other party directors, the MDC spokesperson added.

According to the spokesperson, the police searched all the vehicles and inspected documents. Tsvangirai was reported brought to a police station in Lupane.

"His campaign events are regularly prevented by police and the army," explains Caroline Dumay, FRANCE 24 correspondent in Capetown. "He had given a speech yesterday denouncing the conditions in which he is campaigning, speaking about 'conditions of a war-torn country,' and that everywhere he went, the army passed in front of him. He repeated that these conditions were unacceptable.”

Threats and intimidation

After six weeks spent outside the country—officially to convince neighboring governments to pressure President Mugabe to step down—the opposition leader returned to Zimbabwe on May 24th. During his absence, the regime implied that it could charge Tsvangirai with “treason,” because he had claimed victory before the official announcement of first round voting results by the Zimbabwean electoral commission. These results credited Tsvangirai with 47.9% of the vote.

For its part, the opposition is accusing the regime of launching an intimidation campaign to influence voters before the second round. The MDC says that 58 of its supporters have been killed since the end of March. The MDC also accuses military intelligence services of plotting to assassinate their leader.

Liberation of Mutambara

This isn’t the first time that Morgan Tsvangirai has clashed with police and Zimbabwean justice. The former union leader has been arrested several times. In February 2002, just before the presidential election, he was also accused of treason for “plotting” against Mugabe. Risking the death penalty, he was acquitted in 2004. He was beaten by security forces in March 2007.

“A year ago, he was arrested, beaten and tortured, making headlines in alll the international papers,” recalls Dumay. “He drew attention to the fate of Zimbabwe. What’s happening there is very worrying, less than a month before the second round in the election.”

But the Zimbabwean government seems to be both hot and cold these days; on Tuesday, one of the opposition leaders Arthur Mutambara, arrested Sunday for writings critical of President Mugabe, was released on bond by a Harare court.

Mugabe refuses all international intrusion

Mugabe has pushed back against a request by the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon to send a special envoy to oversee the preparations for the second round of voting June 27th.

U.S. government spokesperson Tom Casey reacted immediately. “I think that the only useful role for him is to server as example of what should not be done in terms of managing agricultural and food policy. The plight of Zimbabwe is partly attributable to the ruinous policy, not only agriculture but also economic, implemented by the Mugabe regime.”

The day after the general election March 29 in Zimbabwe, which was lost by the current regime, political violence increased around the country. The UN attributes the majority of attacks on the supporters of the regime.

Watch Morgan Tsvangirai's exclusive interview with FRANCE 24 on 'The Talk of Paris'