Lawyers, activists leaving Zimbabwe after 'persecution'
A presidential run-off will be held in the country on June 27th
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Sunday, 08, Jun 2008 10:53
Lawyers and human rights activists are leaving Zimbabwe over alleged government-backed activities against them.
The southern African country is holding a presidential election run-off poll on June 27th after elections held in March failed to produce a decisive winner.
The AFP news agency cites prominent lawyer Andrew Makoni as saying that he feared for his life as the ruling Zanu-PF party, led by Robert Mugabe, had initiated a campaign of harassment against lawyers defending candidates from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.
Mr Makoni told the news provider: "If you represent a political or human rights abuse case you are automatically associated with the cause of your client and subjected to intimidation and arrest."
The MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, is planning to hold rallies today after a court ruling overturned a ban on public gatherings. The Zimbabwean government cited security concerns as the reason for the restrictions on rallies.
Earlier this week, Mr Tsvangirai was arrested while aid groups were ordered to leave the country and NGOs working in the country were also ordered to stop aid efforts.
Social welfare minister Nicholas Goche said in a memorandum sent to the aid groups last week that they were violating the terms of their agreement with the Zimbabwean government.
In his statement, Mr Goche ordered all the aid groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to "suspend all field operations until further notice".
The announcement comes after Mr Mugabe banned a selection of volunteer agencies from working in Zimbabwe.
Care International, a UK-based organisation, for example, was ordered to suspend its work after being accused of campaigning for the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).