Stayaway starts with swoop on opposition

The first day of a planned week of anti-government protests in Zimbabwe started with a swoop on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) by security forces. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was detained early on Monday for allegedly defying a court order to call off the stayaway. Around the country police detained at least four opposition MPs, the mayor of Bulawayo and a number of MDC activists, a party bulletin said, adding that a number of supporters had also been assaulted by the police and the army. Tsvangirai was released after being warned and cautioned but will return to court on Tuesday to contest an attempt to prevent him from making any anti-government statements. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said his home was searched early on Monday morning by police and his staff were allegedly assaulted. However, when he presented himself at the Harare police station later in the day with his lawyer, in compliance with a police order, he was told it was "not urgent and they could talk later in the week," he told IRIN. Live ammunition was used on a crowd of protesters in the Harare suburb of Highfield where a group of protesters had allegedly begun stoning the police, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told IRIN. An MDC bulletin said three people were injured when the police opened fire, a charge the police deny. Bvudzijena said a number of arrests of "suspected opposition members" were also made in the central town of Gweru for alleged possession of dangerous weapons, and in the tourist town of Victoria Falls for allegedly stoning buses. In Masvingo in the south, a number of people were arrested for allegedly inciting people to march to the governor's office. The Harare campus of the University of Zimbabwe was sealed off, preventing any entry or exit after a group of "rowdy students intended to destroy property", Bvudzijena stated. According to an MDC spokeswoman, students were trying to march to the city centre when the police sealed off the campus and fired teargas. Ncube said the MDC considered the protests and the work stayaway "a resounding success". "There is a 100 percent shut-down in all cities at the moment, and that is the largest and clearest message to the government." This week's protests are the latest in a series of demonstrations organised by the MDC in their call for President Robert Mugabe's resignation. Political analyst John Makumbe told IRIN that although the government had not reacted directly to any of the reform demands made in the last two demonstrations, the success of the protests shows that "a very serious statement is being made". "People need the world to hear that nothing is okay, and to highlight to the international community that things can't continue as they are," Makumbe said.