MDC-T blasts police for arresting shutdown pastor

The Tsvangirai faction of the Movement for Democratic Change has condemned the police for arresting Pastor Evan Mawarire, the man who used the social media to call for last week’s shutdown which paralysed the country for a whole day though the state media has rubbished the stay-away as a flop.

Mawarire was arrested this morning after he handed himself over to the police and was charged with inciting public violence.

“It is wholly uncalled for, and indeed draconian and primitive, for the ZRP to arrest Pastor Evan Mawarire for simply calling upon his fellow Zimbabweans to join him in a peaceful and non-violent stay away,” MDC-T spokesman Obert Gutu said in a statement.

“The ZANU-PF regime has got absolutely no respect for the supreme law of the land. This is a regime that routinely and invariably violates the basic tenets of the Constitution, particularly when it comes to the respect and observance of fundamental human rights and freedoms.

“As the country's largest and most popular political party, the MDC would like to call upon the ZANU-PF regime to immediately release Pastor Evan Mawarire. The man has no criminal case to answer.”

The MDC-T hailed last week’s shutdown as a victory for the people and claimed credit for sparking the demonstrations through what it termed the mother of all demonstrations which it staged in April.

The State-media, however, says the stay-away was a flop as 73 percent of the workers turned up for work.

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