Sokwanele - Zvakwana - Enough is Enough

TAKE ACTION: WOZA women still in custody today

Update: Sibongile and Rose have been released. A full update on the WOZA site.

WOZA are still needing support from the public to speed up the relase of two women, Sibongile Matupe and Rose Rukwewo, who were arrested in Mutare yesterday:

Two women, Sibongile Matupe and Rose Rukwewo, an elderly woman, have been arrested in Mutare today following the peaceful protest in that city yesterday. The two women are currently at Mutare Central Police Station and look set to spend the night in custody. It is unclear why they were targeted for arrest or what charge, if any, will be laid against them. Lawyers from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) are in attendance but have not been given access to the women. Law and Order officers are insisting that they finish ‘interviewing’ them before they will allow the lawyer access to his clients.

Police went door-to-door in Sakubva, a suburb of Mutare, searching for people who took part in yesterday’s peaceful protest action. The two women were taken from their homes.

The arrest of these two women is a blatant violation of civil rights, as is the fact that they are being denied access to their lawyer. (vioa WOZA)

The two women are still in custody today. One of them suffers from high blood pressure and lawyers are struggling to get her released as quickly as possible. There are no witnesses to say that these two women were at the peaceful protest in Mutare yesterday: the police detained them on hearsay and kept them in custody overnight. It is believed that the police are intending to warn and caution them, with an accompanying fine of US$20. They should not have been arrested in the first place, and they should be released immediately.

We are told that the police are still going door to door looking for WOZA participants in the peaceful protest.

Take Action:

WOZA are asking people to call the Mutare police station to protest the arrest of these women and to demand their immediate release.

Telephone numbers to call:

+263 20 31543

+263 20 64212

+263 20 63813

+263 20 63814.

This entry was posted by Sokwanele on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 3:28 pm. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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