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prieten47
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Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 4, 2008 - 01:01 AM
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Arthur Mutambara of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was dragged by police from his home in Harare and locked up in jail. His crime? In a newspaper article he had described irregularities in the conduct of Zimbabwe's courts, judicial officials and Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party during the March general elections.
Violence and intimidation against opposition party members has become widespread with over 50 murdered so far. But Mugabe is not just using an iron fist to smash the opposition.
A reporter for the Institute for War & Peace Reporting says Mugabe "is leaving no stone unturned to win poll." The former CEO of Zimbabwe Broadcastting Holdings Henry Muradzikwa has been fired for "failing to provide favorable coverage of Mugabe" and for allowing opposition commercials to be shown. His replacement Happison Muchetere is now showing documentaries on Mugabe's role in the 1970s war of liberation.
ZANU has suddenly set up "People's Shops" where scarce food is being sold at a discount. ZANU Party spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira: "We have realized that people were hungry when they went to the polls."
Mugabe's Central Bank is also printing vast sums of money to pass out to supporters and voters. The resultant hyperinflation has now reached 255 million Zimbabwean dollars to one US dollar.
Describing his own performance in the last election, Mugabe said, "We did not lead, we misled; we did not encourage, rather we discouraged; we did not unite, we divided; we did not inspire, we dispirited; we did not mobilize, we demobilized."
What will Mugabe do differently this time? Kill and arrest the opposition, control the media, sell discounted food until the election is over and pass out billions in paper money.
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davyk
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 4, 2008 - 04:47 AM
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MDC leader Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara yesterday appeared in court on allegations of contempt of court and communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the State.
Mutambara wrote an article published in The Standard newspaper issue of April 20 2008, which the prosecution said was false and thus undermined public confidence in the law enforcement agents, defence forces and the prison services.
This can be view with different lenses and depending on which side you chose to take.While i do not support the arrest and harrassement of the opposition but at the same time in the name of rule of law can we allow people to peddle lies for their own political mileage?Noone is above the law so if Arthur has broken the law he should be arrested! In the meanwhile can we allow the due process to take its course.
For your own information Arthur is not even contesting in the june 27 election
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prieten47
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 4, 2008 - 08:31 AM
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dkaiyo wrote:
Mutambara wrote an article published in The Standard newspaper issue of April 20 2008, which the prosecution said was false and thus undermined public confidence in the law enforcement agents, defence forces and the prison services.
This can be view with different lenses and depending on which side you chose to take.While i do not support the arrest and harrassement of the opposition but at the same time in the name of rule of law can we allow people to peddle lies for their own political mileage?Noone is above the law so if Arthur has broken the law he should be arrested! In the meanwhile can we allow the due process to take its course.
For your own information Arthur is not even contesting in the june 27 election
Mutambara couldn't possibly have written anything that would "undermine public confidence" in Mugabe's state terror apparatus more than it already is.
He is an important opposition leader who has been arrested three weeks before an important run-off election. He is now sitting in a prison system he criticized in print, being prosecuted by a law enforcement agency he criticized in print. This is "due process?"
If there were even a microscopic particle of "due process" in Zimbabwe, Mugabe would be sitting in prison, not Mr. Mutambara.
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 4, 2008 - 02:57 PM
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Its called freedom of the press - people can write whatever they want -
and if there was no truth to what he was saying - there would be point in arresting him - this is a clear attempt to shut him up.
But even more importantly - Mugabe just arrested the HEAD of the opposition for "addressing a rally without authorization"
since when is it legitimate for Mugabe to decide when his political opponent is allowed to speak - and with whome?
This is jsut another example of Mugabe's monsterous anti-democratic practices.
I would love to hear Dkayio rationalize the arrest of the head of the opposition on the crime of speaking to people.
How can this be seen as anything other then an undemocratic attempt by Mugabe to cling to power and sabotage his opposition?
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davyk
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 5, 2008 - 10:38 AM
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As i said in my previous comment I DO NOT SUPPORT the arrest and harrasment of the opposition. Thats my position!
Now lets talk for starters AGO is a none entity in the political arena. A man who chickened out of the presidential race and stood for MP race and he failed to garner a 1000 votes! To me that man is not important politically.
Every country has its laws here we have POSA and AIPPA which were passed by the august house here and they require for one to seek authorisation from the police to hold a public political meeting and if one breaks a law i believe they should be arrested. Do any of you know about the Patriot Act and what it says concerning people who speak thing that are deemed unappropriate?
Some people are good at pulling some media stunts, they deliberately break the law and get arrested to get media coverage and gain political mileage.
You refered to the March 2007 incident do you know what transpired for Tsvangison to be arrested? I guess you know one side of the story.
I will update you
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 5, 2008 - 12:45 PM
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"I DO NOT SUPPORT the arrest and harrasment of the opposition. Thats my position!"
right - you just support Mugabe - the man who is DOING all the harrasment and arresting of the opposition.
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davyk
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 6, 2008 - 01:46 AM
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luke wrote:
"I DO NOT SUPPORT the arrest and harrasment of the opposition. Thats my position!"
right - you just support Mugabe - the man who is DOING all the harrasment and arresting of the opposition.
When you support someone DOES NOT mean you agree on everything! We are not CLONES we differ in many things bu there are just some fundamentals that draw me to the man.
One of them is his position against the imperialist i like it when he tells them to go and hang
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davyk
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 6, 2008 - 08:03 AM
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We didn’t arrest Tsvangirai’
Herald Reporter
POLICE have dismissed as false claims by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai that he was arrested and detained by security agents in Matabeleland North on Wednesday afternoon.
The opposition leader reportedly told the Western media that he had been detained by police for about nine hours and was only released after ‘‘signing an official police caution", with his party claiming the ‘‘arrest’’ was a Government attempt to paralyse his run-off campaign.
Tsvangirai’s ‘‘detention’’ was roundly condemned by the United States, Britain, Germany and Amnesty International.
However, chief police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena yesterday said Tsvangirai’s convoy was stopped at a routine roadblock in Lupane where it was found that one of the vehicles did not have proper registration.
He said the vehicle in question was South African-registered and the driver failed to produce the relevant papers to show that the car was in Zimbabwe legally.
The driver was asked to accompany the police officers to the nearest police station whereupon Tsvangirai’s entire convoy, which had been cleared to proceed, decided to follow the driver.
SO MUCH OF THE MEDIA........
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=84&cat=18
This post was edited on: 2008-06-06 at 08:29 AM by: dkaiyo
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 6, 2008 - 04:37 PM
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uh huh - here is Al Jazeera's article.
you can pretend all you want that Mugabe is not arresting the opposition - not disrupting their rallies -
everyone knows the truth - you are not fooling anyone. Frankly it makes you look absurd to parrot Mugabe's government position as he perverts democracy. We should be thankful he didn't get teh arms shipment from China.
and all Dykaio does is google articles ingoring the legion which disagree with him until he finds one that he can try to spin positively - then he pretends his article is authoritative.
it is obviously and childish - there is no running from the truth.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7F2C1EF5-21C7-4928-8DF8-9AA2CED51C33.htm
"Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, has been freed without charge from police custody, hours after he was placed under arrest.
Tsvangirai was arrested on Friday while campaigning in the run-up to the second round of a decisive presidential vote against incumbent Robert Mugabe.
Tsvangirai, who finished on top in the first round of a presidential poll in March, was taken into custody after being stopped at a roadblock in Umzingwane, 40km from Bulawayo.
The MDC also said police have banned several rallies because authorities cannot guarantee the safety of party leaders.
A run-off presidential election between Tsvangirai and Mugabe, who leads the Zanu-PF party, is set for June 27.
In recent weeks, both sides have accused the other of intimidating voters in an attempt to influence the vote.
George Sibotshiwe, a spokesman for Tsvangirai, told Al Jazeera that Tsvangirai's arrest was an attempt to derail his election campaign.
"This is a deliberate strategy by Zanu-PF to disrupt Mr Tsvangirai's campaign and prevent him from having access to the Zimbabwean people," he said.
"He was told he could campaign but only at his risk. [The authorities] do not want him to campaign because they know he has popular support.
"Judging by what has happened so far, there is no way we can have a normal election.
"If election observers and peacekeepers can find their way to the ground as quickly as possible we can rescue this election. There is still a chance."
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davyk
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 7, 2008 - 06:04 AM
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SO MUCH OF THE MEDIA.............
i think luke missed that im talking about the role the media is playing in all this!
But did you read the police statement and what they had to say about the allegation of arresting him?
well you also seem to be blind to the fact that the media can lie or exaggarate issues to futher their agenda.
Canrt we at least take the word of the police spokesman? coz for me its difficult to trust these media guys
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TREASURE
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 7, 2008 - 07:41 AM
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One thing is certain that Mugabe is a president the world wil not forget,, whatever the outcome of the presidential election [which i`m sure will be in his favour], his legesy will not be forgoten!
I must say that he is a man any person would deep down admire,,his courage man, its extra-odinary!
But for the people in Zimbabwe ,its a shame that they have to live in a country where they are forced to live in poverty and in fear, without any given choice.
Above all in a world of dictatorship.
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prieten47
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 8, 2008 - 10:28 PM
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treasurekauzuu wrote:
One thing is certain that Mugabe is a president the world wil not forget,, whatever the outcome of the presidential election [which i`m sure will be in his favour], his legesy will not be forgoten!
I must say that he is a man any person would deep down admire,,his courage man, its extra-odinary!
But for the people in Zimbabwe ,its a shame that they have to live in a country where they are forced to live in poverty and in fear, without any given choice.
Above all in a world of dictatorship.
Thank you for your thoughts. You obviously have the ability to praise someone for what is praiseworthy and criticize that same someone for what is objectionable. Mugabe deserves praise for his role in the liberation struggle of the 1970's, no one can take that legacy away from him. But his recent leadership of Zimbabwe and his manipulation of the electoral process in Zimbabwe are very much deserving of criticism.
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davyk
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 9, 2008 - 04:03 AM
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prieten47 wrote:
<a href=.
Thank you for your thoughts. You obviously have the ability to praise someone for what is praiseworthy and criticize that same someone for what is objectionable. Mugabe deserves praise for his role in the liberation struggle of the 1970's, no one can take that legacy away from him. But his recent leadership of Zimbabwe and his manipulation of the electoral process in Zimbabwe are very much deserving of criticism.
those are some interesting comments there!
You know what i find interesting is Mugabe only became a dictator from the 2000 and has anyone bothered to ask why?
It was only after he chose to give the land to the masses and challenge the West over some policy issues!
If Mugabe was once called a terrorist was can stop the same people call him a dictator but the question is according to who?in who definition is he a dictator?
He is not the only one hence i have come to realise that every leader who does not agree with the West automatically become a dictator.And these countries will unleash the media on that leader to paint him black and in the process shape the public opinion!
Who define the "dictatorhood"of a leader
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 10, 2008 - 03:25 AM
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"Who define the "dictatorhood"of a leader"
Not who - but WHAT.
And WHAT defines someone as a dictator is their attitude toward the legitimate democratic voices of the people.
What Mugabe is doing right now - in perverting the democratic process in the election - arresting and intimidating the opposition. Using food to manipulate the vote - banning opposition rallies -
what he does to silence free speech is another sign of dictatorship.
Basically a dictator is someone who manipulates and perverts the democratic process in order to keep themselves prepetually in power. How long has Mugabe been in power
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davyk
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Re: Zimbabwe: A top opposition leader arrested 3 weeks before election!
June 10, 2008 - 04:39 AM
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luke wrote:
"Who define the "dictatorhood"of a leader"
Not who - but WHAT.
And WHAT defines someone as a dictator is their attitude toward the legitimate democratic voices of the people.
What Mugabe is doing right now - in perverting the democratic process in the election - arresting and intimidating the opposition. Using food to manipulate the vote - banning opposition rallies -
what he does to silence free speech is another sign of dictatorship.
Basically a dictator is someone who manipulates and perverts the democratic process in order to keep themselves prepetually in power. How long has Mugabe been in power
You asked a question how long does Mugabe has been in power- well the answer lies in the people of Zimbabwe and our constitution.The constitution does not give a limit to the number of terms a president can serve in that office.Elections are held whenever they are due since 1980 and in all he get chosen by the people.
Its not about the number of years he has been in power we have many like him but we dont hear about it as those leaders have not stepped on the toes of the West! The issues you quoted above all comes backm to the issue of the land.
You say its not WHO but WHAT.But the irony of this all is all the issues you quoted were there before Mugabe started to take the land and they then become issues.
A definition of you people is when the party you want wins than that election is free and fair and reflects the will of the people.But the question is which people.
You talk of the use of food as a campaign tool so it is okay if the NGO's and the opposition use it like theywere before they were suspended?
A person who breaks the law of the land should be arrested thats rule of law so if the opposition breaks the law they should be arrested and with no apologies for it!
Anyway can you give me a model of a fully democratic country?
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