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Zimbabwe: More Die in Political Violence After Run-Off
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Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
5 July 2008
Posted to the web 6 July 2008
Harare
THE Movement for Democratic Change says 12 of its supporters have been murdered since the presidential election run-off held eight days ago.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday said his party had recorded nine deaths countrywide since the election run-off while his party's information department yesterday said the number had since risen to 12.
The deaths reportedly occurred in Murehwa, Chirumhanzu, Chiweshe, Headlands, Masvingo, Mashava, Guruve, Mhondoro and Zengeza.
The party said the latest deaths bring to 103 the death toll amongst its supporters since the first round of elections in March.
The victims in the latest cases reportedly died from beatings by suspected Zanu PF supporters.
In a statement, the party also claimed that over 1 500 of its activists, including 20 MP-elects and parliamentary candidates in the March elections were in police custody following a massive state-sponsored crackdown against its members.
The MDC said the arrested were being accused of being involved in political violence while most MPs have charges of inciting political violence against them.
"If they commit crime, we will always arrest them," police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said. "Do they want us to leave them simply because they are MDC. . .The police's duty is to arrest anyone who commits a crime regardless of their political affiliation."
State-radio yesterday reported the death of one Zanu PF member, allegedly at the hands of suspected MDC supporters.
The MDC said its members were being nabbed yet not a single Zanu PF supporter had been arrested in connection with the 103 murders. It also said about 5 000 of its supporters, mainly polling agents and council candidates in the March polls, were still missing after having been allegedly abducted by Zanu PF militia and state security agents.
Bvudzijena rejected claims that the police were practising selective arrests, saying they were arresting everyone involved in crime, including both MDC and Zanu PF supporters.
The party also said thousands of its supporters were still in hiding, including mountains, fearing for their lives while others were still in hospital nursing serious injuries sustained from assaults by Zanu PF and state security agents after the March elections.
The party said it condemned the alleged state-sponsored violence, which it claimed was meant to decimate the party and its structures.
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"The continued onslaught on our structures shows that Zanu PF is not sincere in the so-called dialogue it says it wants with the MDC," the party said. "The regime cannot talk dialogue when it is acting war across the length and breadth of the country. . .The regime cannot be allowed to pretend that it wants peace when it is acting violence on the ground."
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| Copyright © 2008 Zimbabwe Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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