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MDC mourners attacked at a memorial service
07 Apr 2011 at 21:57hrs | Views
MDC-T said on Thursday that 14 people were hurt after youths attacked scores of mourners at a memorial service.
The ceremony was being held on Wednesday to remember four party activists slain during the election violence in 2008.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai led the unveiling of tombstones, an African tradition of remembrance often held long after death.
His party said in a statement that after Tsvangirai left the cemetery, youths attacked scores of mourners, and police fired teargas and baton-charged the gathering. Three people were hospitalised with injuries from beatings, and one with a broken hand.
The disputed 2008 poll forced longtime President Robert Mugabe to join a troubled coalition with Tsvangirai's party.
An independent Christian group known as Heal Zimbabwe Trust organised the ceremony. It has held services for victims of political violence across the country since the 2008 poll.
Earlier, Tsvangirai told mourners his supporters had long been stalked and killed by "merchants of death" who acted with impunity in violence orchestrated by Mugabe militants and loyal police, security agents and the military.
"We are angry because the perpetrators of these heinous acts are walking scot-free," he said.
Witnesses said attackers arrived at the cemetery in minibuses on Wednesday and some were identified as Mugabe militants known as Chipangano, or members of a youth gang pact in the local Shona language, who chanted and shouted slogans to disrupt the ceremony.
The incident came as mediators for regional leaders in the Southern African Development Community wound up a visit to Harare aimed at easing tensions on the two-year coalition.
A summit of regional leaders, in their strongest rebuke yet of Mugabe, announced last week they would take "appropriate action" to help resolve disputes in the coalition and rein in violence, intimidation and hate speech as the nation prepares for fresh elections later this year.
But Mugabe, who has ruled since 1980, told his party leaders afterward he would not accept regional interference and that "even our neighbours shouldn't tell us what to do".
A state-owned newspaper controlled by Mugabe loyalists described chief mediator President Jacob Zuma of South Africa as "erratic" and "a dishonest broker" on Zimbabwe.
In efforts at damage control on Wednesday, Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba said that did not reflect the government's official position and mediation continued. Media headlines "of varying accuracy and emotions" led to reports of a diplomatic standoff with South Africa.
The ceremony was being held on Wednesday to remember four party activists slain during the election violence in 2008.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai led the unveiling of tombstones, an African tradition of remembrance often held long after death.
His party said in a statement that after Tsvangirai left the cemetery, youths attacked scores of mourners, and police fired teargas and baton-charged the gathering. Three people were hospitalised with injuries from beatings, and one with a broken hand.
The disputed 2008 poll forced longtime President Robert Mugabe to join a troubled coalition with Tsvangirai's party.
An independent Christian group known as Heal Zimbabwe Trust organised the ceremony. It has held services for victims of political violence across the country since the 2008 poll.
Earlier, Tsvangirai told mourners his supporters had long been stalked and killed by "merchants of death" who acted with impunity in violence orchestrated by Mugabe militants and loyal police, security agents and the military.
"We are angry because the perpetrators of these heinous acts are walking scot-free," he said.
Witnesses said attackers arrived at the cemetery in minibuses on Wednesday and some were identified as Mugabe militants known as Chipangano, or members of a youth gang pact in the local Shona language, who chanted and shouted slogans to disrupt the ceremony.
The incident came as mediators for regional leaders in the Southern African Development Community wound up a visit to Harare aimed at easing tensions on the two-year coalition.
A summit of regional leaders, in their strongest rebuke yet of Mugabe, announced last week they would take "appropriate action" to help resolve disputes in the coalition and rein in violence, intimidation and hate speech as the nation prepares for fresh elections later this year.
But Mugabe, who has ruled since 1980, told his party leaders afterward he would not accept regional interference and that "even our neighbours shouldn't tell us what to do".
A state-owned newspaper controlled by Mugabe loyalists described chief mediator President Jacob Zuma of South Africa as "erratic" and "a dishonest broker" on Zimbabwe.
In efforts at damage control on Wednesday, Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba said that did not reflect the government's official position and mediation continued. Media headlines "of varying accuracy and emotions" led to reports of a diplomatic standoff with South Africa.
Source - Byo24News
