Mugabe raids opposition headquarters

NY Times:

Armed police officers raided the headquarters of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party in Harare, the capital, on Friday, detaining hundreds of opposition supporters, a spokesman for the party said.

The action appeared to be one of the most blatant crackdowns on the opposition since the disputed elections nearly four weeks ago.

The spokesman, Nqobizitha Mlilo, said in an e-mailed statement that about 200 to 250 heavily armed police officers had raided the offices of the party, the Movement for Democratic Change. Other reports put the number of police officers at “dozens.”

In a separate raid on the offices of independent election observers, the police seized vote count materials, The Associated Press reported.

The opposition’s headquarters building, called Harvest House, in downtown Harare, had become a refuge for opposition supporters fleeing what they say is widespread political violence by government forces across the country since the presidential and parliamentary elections on March 29.

“These armed police have taken hundreds of people that were now staying at the party headquarters running away from the different parts of Zimbabwe, where the regime has been unleashing brutal violence,” Mr. Mlilo said in a statement.

In a later statement, the MDC said the number arrested had risen to 300 people, including all staff members.

The police searched for documents used by the opposition to support its claim it won the presidential election, and had also taken away computers, Mr. Mlilo said.

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A police spokesman said the raid was an attempt to seize people who the authorities believed had committed crimes outside Harare.

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Police state tactics only make Mugabe's government look worse. This should speed action against this government and it certain makes people like South Africa's Mbeki look ridiculous when he claims there is not crisis.