Zimbabwean activist pastor Evan Mawarire will ask the High Court on Wednesday to free him on bail after his detention on subversion charges following violent protests over a fuel price hike that sparked a brutal security crackdown.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised action on Tuesday in response to a widely condemned clampdown on civilians in which at least three people were killed and scores wounded during unrest ignited by his decision to raise the price of fuel by 150 percent.
Zimbabwe’s Human Rights Commission accused security forces of systematic torture, offering the starkest indications yet that the country was reverting to the authoritarian rule that characterized Robert Mugabe’s 37 years in power. Mugabe was forced from office after a coup in November 2017.
Residents in two Harare townships and a neighborhood in the second city, Bulawayo, said patrolling soldiers beat up residents on Tuesday night, continuing a trend seen since the protests started. Armed soldiers are providing security for a subsidized state bus service.