95 arrested for Zimbabwe anti-government protests

            

Zimbabwe police said Tuesday they had arrested 95 people on charges of promoting public violence for taking part in demonstrations that called for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to leave power.

The group appeared before a court the day after Monday's protests mobilised by a one-time veteran of Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF party that has held power of the impoverished southern African country since independence in 1980.

The men and women in custody were among 200 people who had gathered at Harare’s Freedom Square and thrown stones at police, also temporarily barricading a main road, according to a copy of the police charges.

They had chanted slogans such as "Enough is Enough" and "Mnangagwa must go", it said.

These acts were unlawful in terms of laws against breaching the peace and participating in a gathering with the intent to promote public violence, it said.

Monday's demonstrations were called by a veteran of the ZANU-PF, Blessed Geza, who spoke out against moves by a faction of the party to keep Mnangagwa, 82, in power beyond the end of his term in 2028.

Security forces were out in force Monday and the demonstrations were limited, but shops, schools and businesses were closed in what many said amounted to a stay-away protest.

In an address on social media late Monday, Geza thanked his followers for heeding his call to protest.

He said he would not call new demonstrations but vowed a series of events to send Mnangagwa and his "corrupt cabal" packing.