Zimbabwe unionists on trial today
Wednesday, 30 Jul 2008 08:27
Unionists face court challenge in Zimbabwe today
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Two of
Zimbabwe's leading trade unionists will appear in court later today.
Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, the president and secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, are charged with "spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state".
They were arrested on May 8th for speaking out against state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe.
The Movement for Democratic Change, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, has suffered widely documented persecution from supporters of president Robert Mugabe during the presidential election runoff campaign.
Its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, was forced to pull out to end the violence which Mr Matombo and Mr Chibebe spoke out against at Dzivarasekwa Stadium on May 1st.
The pair was also charged with "inciting the public to rise against the government". After eventually receiving bail they were banned from addressing political or public gatherings.
The Trades Union Congress is leading British efforts to lobby Mr Mugabe's government in Harare and is urging unionists to send a template letter to Zimbabwe's justice minister on the issue.
It demands that "all charges are dropped with immediate effect" and accuses the government of clearly breaching free speech and freedom to associate rights.
The International Labour Organisation's committee on the application of standards recently expressed its concerns over the surge in trade union and human rights violations, the letter points out.