Victims Of Banned MDC Rally Violence Hospitalised

As the smoke clears, the true toll of Saturday's cancelled rally are finally being seen.

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"Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party was forced to postpone to next week Sunday a planned peace rally at the Glamis Stadium in Harare, after ZANU PF youths and riot police camped at the venue and beat up party supporters who tried to attend.

Close to 15 people were admitted to hospital with serious injuries while three are said to have been abducted and taken away in ZANU PF trucks. Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa witnessed some of the violence, telling us ZANU PF youths undressed a woman who was passing by, leaving her naked.

"Unsuspecting members of the public were battered with heavy logs, metal bars and whips, for merely passing through the area. Apart from the vicious beatings, several residents said they were robbed of varying amounts of cash, stripped of their valuables, shoes and clothing," the MDC-T said in a statement."

The allegations by the MDC are serious, yet obviously do not warrant investigation by the pro-Mugabe law enforcement officers. Since when is it acceptable to strip a woman naked in public?

What did the police do to stop the violence? Nothing.

They just stood and watched...

"The police and youths "assaulted innocent civilians who were passing by the venue, especially those wearing red t-shirts, on allegations that they are MDC activists," the MDC-T added. There were fears for the welfare of one person hit over the head with a log, with eyewitnesses saying it was doubtful he would survive.

When some of the MDC went to the police station to report the assaults, an Inspector Dembedza at Harare Central allegedly told them to leave and go back to face their assailants."

Since when is wearing a red shirt excuse enough for the Mugabe thugs to launch an assault?

And why do the police fail to even record a report of assault, instead urging the complainants to go back and confront those who committed the assault? Is this not the police attempting to get the MDC to launch attacks on the ZANU PF thugs so that they can arrest those MDC complaints?

The police must think that we were all born yesterday...

"The rally had been banned after ZANU PF claims that they had also booked a venue 500 metres away from the planned MDC-T peace rally. Police said this could lead to violence. But no such ZANU PF function took place. The MDC-T sought an urgent High Court injunction for their rally to proceed but, this was turned down.

Justice George Chiweshe, who presided over the electoral commission that cooked figures in favour of Mugabe in the 2008 presidential election, was the same judge who threw out the MDC-T court application."

Finally, someone else has picked up on the fact that there was no ZANU PF rally held on Saturday...

"Meanwhile several hundred kilometres away in Marondera, ZANU PF thugs closed down all the shops and beer halls in the Rujeko suburb, ordering people to attend the signing of the so-called anti-sanctions petition.

Similar bullying was reported in Mutare over the weekend where Muchemwa said there was violence in the eastern town of Mutare as ZANU PF again forced people to attend their rally and sign the anti-sanctions petition. "Loads of trucks were seen passing by the Christmas pass leading into town just before the violence erupted," he said.

In Bindura white commercial farmers were paraded in front of people at the anti-sanctions rally in the mining town. According to Muchemwa the farmers were forced to sign the anti-sanctions petition."

ZANU PF go to extremes to make a point. Using threats, violence and shame to 'prove' themselves, they are aware that their actions are going to be unpunished because the police force is now an extension of the ZANU PF party.

Robb WJ Ellis

The Bearded Man