HARARE – Police on Wednesday arrested 44 students during a meeting of the Zimbabwe National Students Union’s general council meeting at ZESA Training Centre in Belvedere, Harare.
Police spokesman Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police were called “after violence erupted amongst the Zinasu group” on day two of a three-day event.
“The violence led to the destruction of ZESA and state property. As a result, police were called in to come and maintain law and order,” Nyathi said, dismissing criticism of police actions by rights groups.
In a series of tweets posted on X, Zinasu said their meeting was “violently disrupted by the police” and “most of the students were brutally assaulted.”
In a later update, Zinasu said the students had been made to pay fines for “disorderly conduct” and had been released, but police were pressing unrelated charges on the union’s leader Emmanuel Sitima.
“Sitima was charged with malicious damage to property as he was accused of spray-painting graffiti at the University of Zimbabwe in May,” the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said.
Sitima is expected to appear in court on Thursday.
