Zimbabwe police pulled four democracy activists off a plane as they headed to a philanthropy conference and charged them on Thursday with disorderly conduct for demonstrating in support of a jailed opposition leader, lawyers said.
The four were arrested at Harare airport on Wednesday as they headed to the African Philanthropy Conference under way in the western town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said on X.
Police have "now formally charged four pro-democracy campaigners with disorderly conduct in a public place," it said on Thursday.
Zimbabwe's opposition has faced a wave of arrests after disputed August 2023 elections in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa's ZANU-PF won a majority in parliament.
Denied bail
Critics accuse ZANU-PF – in power since independence in 1980 – of stifling dissent.
Wednesday's arrests were based on allegations that the four took part in a demonstration last month when the official opposition leader, Jameson Timba, and dozens of others appeared in court, the lawyers said.
The court denied bail to Timba, head of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), and more than 70 other people who have been in custody since June.
They were arrested at a private home and charged with disorderly conduct and participating in an unlawful gathering.
Torture allegations
The four arrested on Wednesday "were ejected by some unidentified people from an aircraft at Robert Mugabe International Airport," the ZLHR said.
They included teacher's union leader Robson Chere who was "visibly tortured and in severe pain", the statement on X said.
Also in detention was human rights activist Namatai Kwekweza, recipient of a 2023 prize awarded by the pro-democracy Kofi Annan Foundation.
The foundation said it had credible reports that Kwekweza and the others "were held incommunicado and tortured for several hours before being handed over to the police."
Crackdown
It demanded that Zimbabwe authorities "ensure that all of Namatai and her colleagues' civil and political rights are fully respected."
Zimbabwe's opposition and civil society groups are facing an intensifying crackdown as the country prepares to host regional heads of state for a Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit on August 17, Human Rights Watch said.
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