afrol News, 23 May - Zimbabwean police has nabbed 12 suspected armed thugs of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Mutare.

The suspected thugs were found in possession of axes, chain blades and sjamboks. Moving around in a pick-up truck belonging to the MDC, the thugs were accused of using the weapons to commit various acts of violence.

Their weapons were reported to have been found hidden under the driver's seat of an Isuzu pick-up with an MDC logo.

MDC thugs, who hailed from different parts of the country, including the capital Harare, were arrested and detained after an escaped victim had alerted the police.

MDC had earlier accused the ruling Zanu-PF of President Robert Mugabe of attacking hundreds of its supporters as well as attempting to assassinate its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, upon returning home for the poll run-off campaign. Zanu-PF officials damned the assassinate claim, accusing Mr Tsvangirai of trying to attract the attention of the West.

Thursday's arrest came as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) was preparing to meet both Zanu-PF and MDC in an attempt to diffuse post-electoral tensions ahead of the 27 June polls.

Both ZEC Chairperson Justice George Chiweshe and acting Attorney-General Justice Bharat Patel condemned violence, with the latter urging the courts to "effectively and expeditiously" deal with cases of political violence.

Justice Chiweshe argued that violence would compromise a conducive environment for free and fair election to prevail.

"The commission deplores politically motivated violence from any quarter as this does not assist the commission in creating an environment conducive for free and fair elections," Justice Chiweshe said, urging political parties to preach peace among their supporters.

According to police spokesperson, the perpetrators have been using "marked or unmarked vehicles to terrorise people in the communities" before they retreat to their unestablished hidden bases.

Chief Supt Mandipaka said most of the suspects admitted being polling agents of the main opposition party during the 29 March harmonised polls. They also admitted disguising themselves as Zanu-PF supporters wearing the party's regalia and beating people purposely to soil the party's name.

In a statement, Justice Patel noted a decline of political violence cases but urged prosecutors and magistrates to deal with cases "firmly and fairly" without regard to political affliation of the offenders.

"In this regard, appropriate measures have been put in place to ensure that public prosecutors and the magistracy co-ordinate their efforts in order to dispose these cases as effectively and expeditiously as is possible," Justice Patel assured.

"From the feedback received by the Attorney General's Office, it would appear that the scale and occurrence of public violence has begun to abate throughout the country.

"In any event, the office intends to monitor the situation on a regular basis and to take decisive action as and when it becomes necessary," he said, disclosing that 80 cases of violence were reported in six provinces since 18 May.

"The alleged offences cover a wide range of acts of public violence, including abduction, assault, malicious damage to property, robbery and offensive utterances. There is also one case of murder and two cases of attempted murder."

He said supporters of both parties are responsible for the acts.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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