Dozens were beaten and some arrested after an opposition leader in Zimbabwe refused bail

By Nyasha Chingono

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwean police beat dozens of opposition supporters and arrested several outside a court in the capital Harare on Thursday after members of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party were denied bail following their arrest two weeks ago.

A justice of the peace in Harare denied bail to the party’s interim leader, Jameson Timba, and 78 activists who were arrested on June 16 for holding a political gathering that authorities said was unauthorised.

Timba took over the interim leadership of the CCC after the former head Nelson Chamisa He had resigned from the party in January, claiming it had been hijacked by the ruling ZANU-PF.

Riot police units guarded the entrance to the court, and the arrests came hours after President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that they would deal with those suspected of causing unrest.

A Reuters reporter saw the arrest of a woman holding a placard demanding the release of the activists. Some were dragged into police vans, others fled from police armed with batons.

The activists were denied bail over fears they would cause unrest and obstruct witnesses in the state’s prosecution, their lawyer, the Gumbo agency, told reporters outside court after the online bail hearing.

Gumbo said his team would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

“We do not believe there are compelling reasons to deny the defendant bail.”

(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Tannur Anders and Ros Russell)