Lawyers Seek To Arrange Medical Care For Detained Zimbabwean Activists

Lawyers Seek To Arrange Medical Care For Detained Zimbabwean Activists

Lawyers for detained Zimbabwe Peace Project Director Jestina Mukoko and
political activists being held by police said Tuesday they have been trying
to get their clients medical care.

Harare Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe on Monday ruled that Mukoko and
activists of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change should be allowed
to see doctors of their choice while being held on charges that they
conspired to overthrow the government.

Lawyers for the detained, who number about 40, also charged they were
severely tortured.

The court is expected to rule Wednesday on the detainees' application for
release on bail.

Authorities have defied a High Court ruling saying the detainees should be
hospitalized. The state is appealing that ruling in the Supreme Court.

Mukoko and the others are accused of recruiting government opponents for
military training in Botswana aiming to bring down the government, and of
bombing police stations.

Defense lawyer Alec Muchadehama told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that he and other attorneys have asked the court to
oblige the police to disclose the names of those responsible for the wave of
abductions over the past 10 weeks.