1 500 MDC activists in jail as national youth chairman battles for his life
From the MDC Information and Publicity Department
Over 1 500 MDC activists, including 20 MPs and parliamentary candidates, across the country are in police custody following a massive State-sponsored crackdown against the MDC.
The MDC supporters and members have been arrested on charges of being involved in political violence whilst most MPs are being accused of trumped-up charges of inciting political violence.
The arrests come at a time when 103 supporters who have been murdered by Zanu PF supporters but not a single Zanu PF supporter has been arrested. About 5 000 of our supporters, mainly polling agents and council candidates, are still missing after having been abducted by Zanu MP militia and Sate security agents in unmarked vehicles.
The continued onslaught of our structures shows that Zanu PF is not sincere in the so-called dialogue it says it wants with the MDC. The regime cannot talk dialogue when it is acting war across the length and breadth of the country. The regime cannot be allowed to pretend that it wants peace when it is acting violence on the ground.
Thousands of our supporters are still in the mountains, fearing for their lives while others are still in hospital nursing serious injuries sustained by Zanu PF and state security agents following the historic defeat of Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe during the watershed polls of 29 March 2008. Those polls remain the only credible polls that were deemed relatively free and fair by regional and continental observer missions.
The injured include Thamsanqa Mahlangu, the MP-elect for Nkulumane who is also the national youth chairman of the MDC. Mahlangu is battling for his life in a Harare hospital after being bludgeoned by Zanu PF thugs at an aborted rally at the Glamis Arena in Harare on Sunday, 22 June 2008.
The MDC condemns the ongoing State-sponsored violence, which is meant to decimate the party and its structures. There cannot be any meaningful dialogue while the regime continues to maim and kill with impunity-with neither shame nor compunction.
The people’s victory is certain. It can only be delayed but not aborted.
The statistics of those in prison or in police custody are as follows:
| Mashonaland Central | 145 |
| Masvingo | 356 |
| Midlands North | 57 |
| Mashonaland West | 114 |
| Manicaland | 476 |
| Harare | 31 |
| Matabeleland South | 63 |
| Matabeleland North | 59 |
| Mashonaland East | 184 |
| Chitungwiza | 11 |
| Bulawayo | 9 |
| Midlands South | 69 |
| TOTAL | 1574 |
July 4th, 2008 22:10
The cheek of the old git!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7487143.stm
July 4th, 2008 22:12
sorry wrong link!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4271875.ece
July 5th, 2008 02:59
This is a really good round-up of the thugs in charge.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1031975/The-Dirty-Half-Dozen-The-generals-ruthless-bloodthirsty-Mugabe.html
Morgan made the right decision. Had he gone through with the June 27 election, he might now well be in jail, or at the bottem of a well.
July 5th, 2008 03:31
After his outburst at the AU and watching Mugabe speak at the airport on his return, it is getting clearer by the day that he is losing his marbles big time.
Those rehearsed lines aren’t coming out quite right, are they Robert…more like jibber jabber talk now.
July 5th, 2008 04:14
Excellent video of the vote rigging. Also shows Biti in prison.
The man who made this is a hero.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2008/jul/04/election.zimbabwe
July 5th, 2008 05:57
I lived through the Rhodesian war, and saw first hand how propaganda and militarisation of the youth led to terrible long-term social and psychological damage for both society and individuals.
Fixing the failed economy of Zimbabwe after Mugabe, is going to be easy compared to the task of repairing the social and psychological damage wrought on its people, especially the young.
Writing in The Washington Post, 3 July, Walter Marwizi says:
“28 years after we gained our independence, it is difficult to understand why anybody should sing war songs all night. While I struggle to make sense of this, I have to explain it to my 5-year-old son, who asks me one of the hardest questions I’ve ever heard: “Will we be safe when the war breaks out?” “No, no,” I say, trying to sound reassuring. “Nobody is going to war.” But what is happening outside, and streaming into our living room over the state-run ZBC television, where daily bulletins show Mugabe threatening war … is not reassuring…. My son and his young friends have already picked up the habit of waving their tiny fists the way Mugabe does on television. They do this at the slightest provocation. Already, the children have clashed a number of times, threatening each other with war.”