Zimbabwe's opposition MDC leader Arthur Mutambara has been arrested over the allegations of publishing falsehoods and for being in contempt of the High Court, The Herald newspaper reported on Monday.
Mutambara's lawyer Harrison Nkomo of Mtetwa and Nyambirai Legal Practitioners on Sunday confirmed his client's arrest saying, the allegations were similar to those levelled against the independent newspaper's editor Davison Maruziva and is being treated more like an accomplice to Maruziva in this case.
Trudy Stevenson, one of the leaders of the faction, also confirmed Mutambara's arrest to online media in a statement sent via email. There was however, no comment from the police.
Nkomo said Mutambara was arrested around 10 a.m. on Sunday and he was detained at Matapi Police Station in Mbare, according to the report. Nkomo however, added that detectives from Harare's Lawand Order section were yet to record a warned and cautioned statement from Mutambara.
Maruziva, whose trial date has been set for Thursday this week, is being accused of publishing an article by Mutambara in The Standard edition of April 20 this year.
The alleged most offensive part of the article read: "Our country is characterized by extreme illegitimacy where we have an imbecilic and cynical military junta running the affairs of the country.
"There is heavy presence of the army and the police in our major cities to intimidate ordinary citizens. Opposition supporters are being brutalized and killed in rural areas under an unprecedented terror campaign."
On the count of contempt of court, Maruziva as the editor is alleged to have allowed another statement by Mutambara accusing ZANU-PF and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission of being in a criminal collusion to fraudulently tamper with polls.
Source:Xinhua
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