The two women arrested in Mutare yesterday, Sibongile Matupe and Rose Rukwewo, remain in custody at Mutare Central Police Station despite the fact that police have admitted that they have no evidence to charge the two women with participating in a demonstration. They now want to prefer charges of criminal nuisance against the women even though the women were taken from their own homes at the time of their arrest. In an act of pure maliciousness and harassment, police are also insisting that the two women remain in custody for the full 48 hours before being taken to court.

Officers from Law and Order are also insisting that they want to make more arrests of people they claim participated in the peaceful street protest on Tuesday 16th. They apparently have a list of people that they looking for. This is despite the fact that they already have admitted that they have no evidence to charge anyone with participating in the peaceful protest.

There are concerns for the well-being of Rose Rukwewo, an elderly woman, as she suffers from hypertension and is currently unwell. The lawyer’s attempts to have her released on medical grounds have come to nothing.

The arrest of these women is further evidence that nothing has changed on the ground for human rights defenders in Zimbabwe. Police continue to act with impunity and without any regard for the law – the houses of the two women were searched without warrants; they were also denied access to their lawyer for hours, during which time they were subjected to intense interrogation. The two women were also subjected to severe pressure to pay ‘admission of guilt’ fines.