Opposition leadership face crackdown

Most of the top leadership of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is facing criminal charges following a government crackdown. Party spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi, the latest detainee, was arrested on Monday afternoon as he was attending the bail hearing of Gibson Sibanda, the party's vice-president and chief whip. Nyathi, like Sibanda, was charged under Section 5 of the Public Order and Security Act for attending a planning meeting of the party's two-day anti-government protest in March. Sibanda was freed on bail of US $1,200 after one week in detention. But by Tuesday afternoon Nyathi was still in custody, MDC information director, Nkanyiso Maqeda, told IRIN. Among those arrested and out on bail are: MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, secretary-general Welshman Ncube, and MP Renson Gasela, who are in the middle of a treason trial in which they are accused of plotting to "eliminate" Mugabe. The party's legal affairs director, David Coltart, was arrested on firearm charges and Roy Bennet, MP for Chimanimani, was arrested for allegedly breaking the electoral law outside a polling station last year. Maqeda said that in addition to the party's top leadership, at least 600 MDC supporters or members had been arrested in the last two weeks - 350 of whom were still in custody. Paul Graham, executive director of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), said the arrest of senior figures could destabilise the MDC. "It makes it almost impossible to develop a mature leadership and respond to the crisis of governance in Zimbabwe," he told IRIN. "It's difficult for them to provide leadership at a time when it is needed and the arrests also have an impact on how the party's supporters behave. The stayaway was largely peaceful, but there were some problems." Since its formation in 1999 the MDC has won 54 of the 120 elected seats in parliament and is currently challenging the outcome of the 2001 presidential election which returned President Robert Mugabe to power. "The MDC has been criticised for being weak as a party, but they are a relatively new party and have had constant disruptions. The fact that they have electoral successes when this is happening means they should be given more credit," Graham added. Maqeda insisted: "What they [the government] don't realise is that this is not just a leadership-orientated party, but a party that succeeds at grassroots." However, he acknowledged that the arrests had placed a strain on the party's financial resources, not only for legal fees, but for the medical bills of assaulted members.