Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) have expressed outrage after authorities on
Monday arrested four human rights campaigners upon their return to the country
and confiscated their laptops and mobile phones.
The lawyers say they only had access to their
clients at Harare Central Police Station after nearly five hours from the time
the human rights campaigners were in incommunicado detention at the airport.
ZLHR say they were further incensed after Police
officers “only waved a search warrant in the lawyers’ faces without giving them
access to the document”.
“Government must stop criminalising the work of
human rights defenders in Zimbabwe. Human rights work is not a crime,” ZLHR
said.
The four human rights campaigners namely George
Makoni aged 38 years, Tatenda Mombeyarara aged 37 years, Gamuchirai Mukura aged
31 years and Nyasha Mpahlo aged 35 years were detained upon disembarking from a
plane at Robert Mugabe International Airport on Monday and held for several
hours without communication with their lawyers after authorities confiscated
their mobile phone handsets and laptops.
ZLHR said authorities refused to allow lawyers
representing the four human rights activists access to their clients.
“The lawyers Roselyn Hanzi, Tinomuda Shoko and
Godfrey Mupanga from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights only had access to their
clients at Harare Central Police Station after nearly five hours from the time
the human rights campaigners were in incommunicado detention at the airport,” ZLHR
said.
“At Harare Central Police Station, Zimbabwe
Republic Police officers only waved a search warrant in the lawyers’ faces
without giving them access to the document.”
No charges have been preferred yet against the
four human rights campaigners.
