ZIMBABWE
Pre-emptive Strike
A coalition of human rights groups said armed men kidnapped six Zimbabwean political activists from their homes and beat them up in an effort to quash a planned protest by the main opposition party on Friday.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, a coalition of rights groups, said it suspected state security agents were behind the abductions, Reuters reported.
“Zimbabwe’s fundamental freedoms are once again in danger and this must be stopped before it gets out of control,” Jestina Mukoko, who chairs the forum, told reporters.
Friday’s protests have been called by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which still disputes the legitimacy of Emmerson Mnangagwa’s presidential election win last year. However, the specific issue they’re targeting is the dismal state of the economy.
Mnangagwa’s government blamed the incident on a “third force” comprising supporters of former leader Robert Mugabe, though it said police would conduct a full investigation.
The MDC has vowed that the protests will be peaceful, but the authorities fear a repeat of the violence that broke out in January over a steep hike in fuel prices.
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