Zimbabwe Police Seize Tsvangirai Buses
Zimbabwean police impounded two campaign buses used by Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday, his party said, in the latest action against the opposition leader in the run-up to a June 27 presidential election.
Tsvangirai, who has been detained four times in the past week and has had his own vehicle confiscated, would continue the campaign, Movement for Democratic Change spokesman George Sibotshiwe said.
“The police have impounded the two buses that we were using. They are saying the buses are not properly registered, but that is not true, just harassment,” he said.
“But (MDC) President Tsvangirai is continuing with his campaign here. We are using other cars that we had in our convoy.”
Tsvangirai, human rights groups and Western powers accuse President Robert Mugabe of unleashing a brutal campaign to win the run-off later this month after he lost the first round on March 29.
Tsvangirai says 66 of his followers have been murdered.
Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, blames the MDC for the violence which has caused widespread international concern.
The third most senior MDC leader, Tendai Biti, was arrested on his return from abroad on Thursday and faces a treason charge which could carry the death sentence.
Earlier on Friday, a regional human rights group said Zimbabwean police had ordered domestic non-governmental aid groups to cease operations.
The South African Litigation Centre (SALC) said police had ordered several NGOs to close, including human rights groups and the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association.
The move followed a ban last week on international humanitarian groups working in Zimbabwe, which faces a chronic food and economic crisis.
US humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said on Thursday the situation was deteriorating rapidly. He called it “very worrying and very serious… with up to four million people in need of humanitarian assistance.”
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