Ex-MDC MP Gwisai arrested

By Peter Matambanadzo
FORMER MDC MP for Highfield Munyaradzi Gwisai and 45 others were arrested at the weekend on allegations of plotting to oust a constitutionally elected Government the Egyptian style.
Gwisai who is also the general co-ordinator of the International Socialist Organisation was arrested together with 45 others during an unsanctioned meeting in Harare.
Police recovered a video projector, two DVD discs and a laptop, which Gwisai used to show demonstrations and the uprising in Egypt and Tunisia.
Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspe-ctor James Sabau confirmed the arrest of Gwisai and his accomplices.
“Yes we arrested Munyaradzi Gwisai and 45 other people and we are holding them at Harare Central Police Station,” Insp Sabau said.
They will appear in court soon.
Gwisai’s arrest comes in the wake of MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai’s recent statements to the international media in which he appeared to try and justify use of violence to change governments as was being witnessed in Tunisia and Egypt.
Several MDC-T youths have been arrested over the past three weeks in connection with a spate of political violence and petrol bombings that rocked Harare.
Insp Sabau said allegations against Gwisai and his accomplices arose when police received information that the MDC-T and its affiliates wanted to hold meetings to organise an uprising the Egypt and Tunisia style. The meetings, Insp Sabau said, were to study the strategies used to oust the leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and see how they could be implemented.
Insp Sabau said on February 19, 2011, Gwisai allegedly invited members from ISO, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Zimbabwe National Students Association and the Medical Professions Allied Workers Union to a meeting he organised in town. The theme of the meeting, Insp Sabau said was: “ISO calls on workers, students and working people to support the struggle in solidarity with Egyptian and Tunisian workers.”
The illegal meeting’s agenda, Insp Sabau said, was “Revolt in Egypt and Tunisia. What lessons can be learnt by Zimbabwe and Africa?”
During the meeting a video on the Egypt revolt was shown to participants as a way of motivating them to subvert a constitutionally elected Government. “The video showed the uprising and demonstrations and subsequent removal of President Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian President and Mr Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (of Tunisia),” the said.
Insp Sabau said police raided the meeting and arrested Gwisai and 45 people for attending an unsanctioned meeting to subvert a constitutionally elected Government. Insp Sabau said what was important to note was that among those arrested were 23 unemployed people.