Zim police charge ‘unruly’ Tsvangirai

HARARE – Police in the Zimbabwean capital yesterday charged Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), with disorderly conduct, said his party.

Tsvangirai was summoned to Harare Central Police Station early yesterday and spent two hours there before being charged and released, the MDC’s information and publicity department said in a statement. The charges apparently related to a tour of supermarkets and stores Tsvangirai made last month after President Robert Mugabe’s controversial price slash quickly emptied shop shelves.The tour angered the authorities.In one South African-owned store, Tsvangirai’s delegation came face-to-face with the angry wife of the defence forces commander who accused the opposition leader of causing the shortages.The MDC said Tsvangirai denied the police charges.The MDC said: “The charge is a violation of Tsvangirai’s constitutional rights to freedom of movement, conscience and association, among other basic freedoms.”Police did not immediately confirm the charges or the summons.Mugabe’s government had also been angered by Tsvangirai’s tour last week of Australia, which recently stepped up punitive measures against top members of the ruling party, deporting at least eight children of the elite who were studying there.The MDC said: “We are mobilising people to express their discontent with the current state of misery and penury that has gripped the people of this nation.”Sapa-dpaThe charges apparently related to a tour of supermarkets and stores Tsvangirai made last month after President Robert Mugabe’s controversial price slash quickly emptied shop shelves.The tour angered the authorities.In one South African-owned store, Tsvangirai’s delegation came face-to-face with the angry wife of the defence forces commander who accused the opposition leader of causing the shortages.The MDC said Tsvangirai denied the police charges.The MDC said: “The charge is a violation of Tsvangirai’s constitutional rights to freedom of movement, conscience and association, among other basic freedoms.”Police did not immediately confirm the charges or the summons.Mugabe’s government had also been angered by Tsvangirai’s tour last week of Australia, which recently stepped up punitive measures against top members of the ruling party, deporting at least eight children of the elite who were studying there.The MDC said: “We are mobilising people to express their discontent with the current state of misery and penury that has gripped the people of this nation.”Sapa-dpa