Zimbabwe protest leader arrested on eve of scheduled strike

Zimbabwean pastor Evan Mawarire, one of the organisers of recent protests against President Robert Mugabe's decades-long rule, was arrested Tuesday and charged with inciting public violence, his lawyer said. 

A national "shutdown" protest last week closed many businesses, shops and schools, with public transport and some government departments and courts also ceasing to function.

The strike on Wednesday followed days of sporadic protests triggered by a sudden outbreak of demonstrations on the outskirts of Harare over police accused of using road blocks to extort cash from motorists.

Further shutdowns are scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday in a surge of public anger over the country's worsening economic crisis and opposition to the authoritarian regime of Mugabe, 92.

Banks have run short of cash, government salaries have been delayed and many basic imports banned at a time when the country has also suffered a severe drought that has left millions hungry.

"(Mawarire) has been charged with inciting public violence," his lawyer Harrison Nkomo told AFP after the Baptist pastor reported to a police station in central Harare where he had been summoned for questioning.
Mawarire shot to instant fame after he posted a video of himself on Facebook in April venting against state corruption and the government's failure to provide basic services.

The video, in which Mawarire was wearing a Zimbabwean flag, spawned the ThisFlag hashtag movement which has become a unifying symbol for the protests.

The demonstrations have revealed the long-bubbling frustration normally kept under strict control by Mugabe's ruthless security forces in a country where 90 percent of the population are not in formal jobs.

Footage on the internet has shown police beating protesters with sticks.

"No violence, citizens," Mawarire said in a video message before his arrest.

"Whenever we protest: no violence, so we are pushing ahead Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 July.

"We are pushing for a 'stay-away' (shutdown) because there is nothing else we can do for the government to listen to us."
Zimbabwe, which abandoned its own currency in favour of US dollars in 2009 to end hyperinflation, spends more than 80 percent of its revenue on state workers' wages and is rated among the most corrupt nations worldwide.

The government has accused western embassies of backing the street protests and national work boycotts.

Information minister Christopher Mushowe also warned Sunday that the authorities were tracking “all those who are abusing the social media to cause unrest in the country”.

The government has warned that anyone sharing "subversive" material would be arrested.

Source: AFP