Harare - Human rights lawyers, who have had a dull time of it for the last few years, are now almost overwhelmed with managing the defence of the large number of people arrested during and after riots in Harare on Friday.
Police and anti-government demonstrators clashed repeatedly and parts of the city were drenched in teargas.
Lawyer Jeremiah Bamu, who is representing many of those picked up by police, said he expected most would be released on Monday.
“Yes, we are very busy. We expect to apply for bail for those who are not released before then. As far as we know (Sunday morning), 91 people were arrested on Friday.”
One man who did not get arrested on Friday, but who asked not to be named, said on Sunday: “Police just picked up anyone they could grab. Some of those arrested had nothing to do with it, they were just standing there looking…”
More then 60 people were arrested two days earlier at a previous anti-government riot in Harare, but most were released by the end of last week after only 13 were charged.
Two state vehicles were gutted and parts of the city were teargassed. Most of those arrested at Friday’s clashes were in or near the western edge of the city, in a long and densely packet street of make-shift shops and markets.
Most shopping in the city centre these days does not take part in the formal sector. It happens in this scruffy part of town, Chinhoyi Street, among hundreds of stalls, lean-to’s and open-air markets where traders offer a vast variety of goods from takkies to laptops near the main hub of taxis and commuter buses.
It was here that demonstrators and protesters allegedly attacked and even burnt some small shops which many people believe are owned by pro Zanu-PF traders, including some which people say belong to first lady Grace Mugabe.
“It is all fixed now, come in and buy,” said a Harare vendor selling small tomatoes alongside handbags from China on Sunday. “It is all cleaned up now,” she said, smiling, while kids played in the dust nearby.
Friday’s demonstration was supposed to be a march through the city to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, in which protesters would hand over a package of demands for electoral reform ahead of the next elections in 2018.
Many opposition supporters claim that Zanu-PF has remained in power for so long because it had cheated in elections at least since 2000.
But police refused permission for the march and a coalition of opposition parties then went to court, and at midday were granted permission to begin their protest.
By then police had fired a lot of teargas. It was the teargas, according to Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora, which kept many demonstrators away from the protest on Friday.
“Quite a lot were scattered across the city. I addressed some at several places, but as people were waiting to join the march, the police released teargas, and thus many had to run away.
“People also knew we were in court getting permission for the march, and so they were waiting for us. Those who stayed on were very brave,” he said.
The demonstration was supposed to be the first one organised by a coalition of opposition parties, including former Zanu-PF supporters and officials, who have now joined the People First Party, formed by Joice Mujuru, former national vice-president, sacked by President Robert Mugabe nearly two years ago.
Both she and MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai abandoned the demonstration after teargas was fired close to their cars when they arrived at a field where a few hundred demonstrators had gathered ahead of the planned march.
In addition to the teargas, streets in this part of the city were barricaded by opposition supporters with rocks, concrete, branches, stones and burning tyres.
Protesters say they erected barricades on the streets to stop police vehicles. Early on Sunday, Zanu-PF Youth League members cleared the streets of the barricades.
A national strike has been called for Wednesday.