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Tsvangirai tries to inspire opposition with his injuries
Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, spoke yesterday of his severe beating at the hands of Robert Mugabe's police. Despite his injuries he eloquently urged his countrymen to join his struggle against a brutal regime. Can his courage make a difference?
By Basildon Peta, Southern Africa Correspondent
Published: 15 March 2007
A defiant Morgan Tsvangirai has called for a popular struggle against Robert Mugabe's government and said the injuries which have put him in intensive care should be an "inspiration" to his countrymen.
The main opposition leader was moved into the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Harare yesterday after suffering a suspected fractured skull, brain injury and internal bleeding.
"There are lots of people who've been subjected to this kind of torture, this kind of brutality by this regime," Mr Tsvangirai said in an interview with local media from his hospital bed.
"It just shows the extent to which this desperate regime is trying to protect its power. For the struggle, I think it's an inspiration to everyone. There is no freedom without struggle, and there is no freedom without sacrifice."
But President Mugabe warned his opponents they would pay "a heavy price" for opposing his rule.
The US has condemned police action against Mr Tsvangirai and his followers as "ruthless and repressive" and South Africa, which normally avoids direct comment on Zimbabwe's woes, called on Mr Mugabe's government to respect the rule of law.
Mr Tsvangirai, 55, was awaiting the results of a brain scan last night to ascertain the full extent of his injuries after he was beaten by police following his arrest on Sunday on his way to a prayer meeting in the capital.
His family and his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), have put in place plans to transfer him to South Africa for treatment but it was not clear whether the Zimbabwe government would allow him to leave the country. The police who had been guarding Mr Tsvangirai were reported last night to have left the hospital.
Mr Mugabe visited the clinic in which the opposition leader was being treated yesterday not to see Mr Tsvangirai but to visit his ailing sister Sabina Mugabe.
Eyewitnesses said Mr Mugabe did not mutter a word despite passing by the bed on which Tendai Biti, the secretary general of the MDC, who was also badly beaten, was lying, on the way to see his sister.
Mr Tsvangirai told the BBC from his hospital bed that police beat him on the head, inflicted body blows to the knees and back, and that his arm was broken. He said he had "lost a lot of blood" and that he was given two pints in a transfusion.
"I think the intent was to inflict as much harm as they could," he said.
Mr Tsvangirai was among numerous opposition supporters arrested at a peaceful prayer meeting in Harare. Many of his followers suffered serious injuries and were still being treated in hospital yesterday.
He was being monitored in the ICU of Harare's Avenues Clinic and doctors would decide on what next steps to take after the results of a brain scan, Tafadzwa Mugabe, a member of Mr Tsvangirai's legal team said.
A group of fellow opposition activists who had been ordered to return to court early yesterday morning were not charged because there were no court officials to handle the case.
Because of the authorities' brazen defiance of earlier court orders ordering Mr Tsvangirai to be freed, it seems officials are now scared to handle the case as they would inevitably have to rule against Mr Mugabe, who has purged the judiciary of most independent-minded officials.
According to a statement issued by the Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Mr Mugabe was unapologetic about the widely condemned behaviour of his government.
"Those who incite violence, or actually cause and participate in unleashing it, are set to pay a very heavy price, regardless of who they are," Mr Ndlovu said, accusing Britain and the United States of funding the meetings at which Mr Tsvangirai was arrested. He said the meetings were meant to "plan regime change" in Zimbabwe.
African leaders, whose response to the Zimbabwe crisis thus far has been very non-committal, seemed to be running out of patience with Mr Mugabe.
The African Union chairman, John Kufuor, said African leaders were embarrassed by the situation in Zimbabwe and perhaps could do more to help, but had met stiff resistance from Harare.
"The African Union is very uncomfortable. The situation in your country is very embarrassing," Ghana's President Kufuor said in response to a question from a Zimbabwean at the Chatham House think tank during a state visit in London.
The latest crackdown comes as Zimbabwe faces a deepening economic crisis with inflation at more than 1,700 per cent, unemployment of 80 per cent and shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency.
Mr Mugabe originally proposed adjusting election dates to extend his current term of office by two years to 2010, and then said that if necessary he would be willing to stand in elections in 2008 - meaning he could remain in office until 2014.
Mr Tsvangirai lost a 2002 presidential election to Mr Mugabe, in a poll widely believed to have been rigged by the government.
Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, spoke yesterday of his severe beating at the hands of Robert Mugabe's police. Despite his injuries he eloquently urged his countrymen to join his struggle against a brutal regime. Can his courage make a difference?
By Basildon Peta, Southern Africa Correspondent
Published: 15 March 2007
A defiant Morgan Tsvangirai has called for a popular struggle against Robert Mugabe's government and said the injuries which have put him in intensive care should be an "inspiration" to his countrymen.
The main opposition leader was moved into the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Harare yesterday after suffering a suspected fractured skull, brain injury and internal bleeding.
"There are lots of people who've been subjected to this kind of torture, this kind of brutality by this regime," Mr Tsvangirai said in an interview with local media from his hospital bed.
"It just shows the extent to which this desperate regime is trying to protect its power. For the struggle, I think it's an inspiration to everyone. There is no freedom without struggle, and there is no freedom without sacrifice."
But President Mugabe warned his opponents they would pay "a heavy price" for opposing his rule.
The US has condemned police action against Mr Tsvangirai and his followers as "ruthless and repressive" and South Africa, which normally avoids direct comment on Zimbabwe's woes, called on Mr Mugabe's government to respect the rule of law.
Mr Tsvangirai, 55, was awaiting the results of a brain scan last night to ascertain the full extent of his injuries after he was beaten by police following his arrest on Sunday on his way to a prayer meeting in the capital.
His family and his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), have put in place plans to transfer him to South Africa for treatment but it was not clear whether the Zimbabwe government would allow him to leave the country. The police who had been guarding Mr Tsvangirai were reported last night to have left the hospital.
Mr Mugabe visited the clinic in which the opposition leader was being treated yesterday not to see Mr Tsvangirai but to visit his ailing sister Sabina Mugabe.
Eyewitnesses said Mr Mugabe did not mutter a word despite passing by the bed on which Tendai Biti, the secretary general of the MDC, who was also badly beaten, was lying, on the way to see his sister.
Mr Tsvangirai told the BBC from his hospital bed that police beat him on the head, inflicted body blows to the knees and back, and that his arm was broken. He said he had "lost a lot of blood" and that he was given two pints in a transfusion.
"I think the intent was to inflict as much harm as they could," he said.
Mr Tsvangirai was among numerous opposition supporters arrested at a peaceful prayer meeting in Harare. Many of his followers suffered serious injuries and were still being treated in hospital yesterday.
He was being monitored in the ICU of Harare's Avenues Clinic and doctors would decide on what next steps to take after the results of a brain scan, Tafadzwa Mugabe, a member of Mr Tsvangirai's legal team said.
A group of fellow opposition activists who had been ordered to return to court early yesterday morning were not charged because there were no court officials to handle the case.
Because of the authorities' brazen defiance of earlier court orders ordering Mr Tsvangirai to be freed, it seems officials are now scared to handle the case as they would inevitably have to rule against Mr Mugabe, who has purged the judiciary of most independent-minded officials.
According to a statement issued by the Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Mr Mugabe was unapologetic about the widely condemned behaviour of his government.
"Those who incite violence, or actually cause and participate in unleashing it, are set to pay a very heavy price, regardless of who they are," Mr Ndlovu said, accusing Britain and the United States of funding the meetings at which Mr Tsvangirai was arrested. He said the meetings were meant to "plan regime change" in Zimbabwe.
African leaders, whose response to the Zimbabwe crisis thus far has been very non-committal, seemed to be running out of patience with Mr Mugabe.
The African Union chairman, John Kufuor, said African leaders were embarrassed by the situation in Zimbabwe and perhaps could do more to help, but had met stiff resistance from Harare.
"The African Union is very uncomfortable. The situation in your country is very embarrassing," Ghana's President Kufuor said in response to a question from a Zimbabwean at the Chatham House think tank during a state visit in London.
The latest crackdown comes as Zimbabwe faces a deepening economic crisis with inflation at more than 1,700 per cent, unemployment of 80 per cent and shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency.
Mr Mugabe originally proposed adjusting election dates to extend his current term of office by two years to 2010, and then said that if necessary he would be willing to stand in elections in 2008 - meaning he could remain in office until 2014.
Mr Tsvangirai lost a 2002 presidential election to Mr Mugabe, in a poll widely believed to have been rigged by the government.
many times in the past.
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