Zimbabwe Police Violently Break Up Street Protests As Opposition Denounces ‘Fascist’ Government

Riyaz Patel

Zimbabwe police fired tear gas and beat scores of opposition supporters gathered in central Harare Friday, as authorities moved to enforce a ban on an anti-government protest that the country’s high court had upheld.

More than a hundred Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters defied the ban, witnesses said.

They clashed with police who fired tear gas and water cannons, chasing them from one of the city’s main squares with batons.

Friday’s street demonstration was to have been the first in a nationwide series of protests organised by the MDC, which accuses Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government of state-sponsored violence, corruption and economic mismanagement.