Zimbabwean activists arrested for foul language

Zimbabwean opposition activists and a member of parliament have been arrested for using abusive and obscene language against police officers.

Police said the trio had been arrested after holding a demonstration outside a government building in the capital, Harare.

It is unclear what the demonstration on Monday was about.

“The Zimbabwe Republic Police confirms the arrest of Joanna Mamombe [MP], Netsai Marova and Cecilia Chimbiri in Harare after a flash demonstration outside the New Government Complex.

“The trio, who were in a Toyota Fortuner without number plates, followed a police vehicle with officers who had attended the scene and used abusive language on the officers thus leading to their arrest,” a statement from the police said.

The three, all members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, were arrested last June for lying about being tortured in custody.

They alleged state agents had abducted them from the police, beaten and sexually assaulted them and forced them to drink each other’s urine.

Police denied the accusations, but UN experts called for the prosecution of “the perpetrators of this outrageous crime”.

The MDC has tweeted that the latest arrests were an escalation of the government’s “war of attrition against opposition activists”: