The Zimbabwean police Wednesday brought charges of creating a criminal nuisance against nine officers and members of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe who were seized and beaten on Tuesday by suspected ruling party militants.
A lawyer for the trade unionists, Alec Muchadehama, said his clients were released and could be summonsed by police at a later date.
Progressive Teachers Union President Takavafira Zhou, Secretary General Raymond Majongwe, Information Officer Harrison Mudzuri, National Coordinator Oswald Madziwa and others were seized by ZANU-PF militants, beaten at a ruling party office and handed over to police. Some were hospitalized at Harare’s Avenues Clinic.
Muchedehama disputed allegations by members of the ZANU-PF Harare provincial organization that the union activists threw flyers and opposition T-shirts onto the ruling party premises, telling reporter Patience Rusere that the flyers in question detailed the plight of striking teachers and the decline of the country's educational system.