Armed soldiers unleash terror
Armed soldiers and policemen are alleged to have severely beaten up people in Harare’s Warren Park, Kuwadzana and Dzivaresekwa suburbs yesterday, accusing them of taking part in the two-day stayaway which ended on Wednesday. At around 3am yesterday, the soldiers and policemen entered homes and bars in Dzivaresekwa and attacked occupants for allegedly barricading roads. On Wednesday evening several people returning from the city were beaten up.
In Warren Park 1 soldiers burst into the Babylon Inn Nightclub, just after midnight yesterday, and accused patrons of holding an MDC meeting. They beat them up. Even workers were not spared. A patron, William Sharara, 24, sustained a broken left arm and other injuries. Those who tried to escape through the back entrance were beaten back by other soldiers who were outside. Nawage Mhofu, 47, who said he is a war veteran and ex-policeman, complained bitterly: “Why are they beating us? Why this war against innocent people? Is this what we fought for?” Stanford Bote, 50, another victim, suspects some of the attackers were ordinary Zanu PF supporters in army uniform.
The front of the nightclub was wrecked as patrons scrambled to escape when the soldiers ordered them out while whipping those at the back. Batsirai Nyamuzinga, 28, the manager, said: “They even beat the barman and my assistant. The crime of the patrons, according to the soldiers, was that they were enjoying themselves.” Beatings were reported in Kuwadzana, Budiriro and Mufakose on Wednesday and after midnight yesterday. The MDC Budiriro 1 district secretary was beaten up so severely he could hardly walk or sit while another man is now bed-ridden from injuries resulting from the beatings. Mbonisi Gatsheni, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces spokesman, denied knowledge of the attacks and referred questions to Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, who refused to comment. Gatsheni said: “The army was not deployed, not to my knowledge. When we deploy we tell the public and give the reasons.”