Gutu, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe police have released Masvingo Mirror publisher, Matthew Takaona without charge hours after he was arrested for cutting overgrown grass outside Mushayavanhu primary school in Gutu, rights lawyers said Tuesday.
”Police has released Matthew Takaona, a resident and a journalist, who had been detained at Gutu Police Station on Tuesday after he was arrested near Mushayavanhu Primary School, for allegedly cutting overgrown grass, impairing visibility on edges of a tarred road,” the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said.
”Takaona was released with no charge preferred against him after police officers unsuccessfully attempted to get him to write a statement narrating what had transpired to which his lawyer Collen Maboke of ZLHR challenged such a request, stating that it is unprocedural.”
Earlier, Takaona had been arrested by a group called the Ferret which is a shadowy intelligence group that has been used by Zimbabwe authorities to arrest people in the past.
Takaona, a journalist by training is also a politician. He was a candidate in the parliamentary elections for Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) for Gutu Central.
Police are yet to give a statement on Takaona’s arrest and the charge he is facing.
The Masvingo Mirror said Takaona was arrested by Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives.
”He was arrested by a CIO-led group of 5 men calling itself Fereti. CIO operatives were insisting on locking up Takaona who complained of harassment particularly by the CIO operative who led the Fereti group. Takaona was forced to leave his unguarded and unlocked car at the roadside where he was arrested,” the Masvingo Mirror said.
”The CIO leader then attempted to grab his phone before bundling him in a small Honda Fit squashed by two men on either side in the back seat and was guarded by three operatives almost throughout the day. One of the women slashing grass lost US$300 under her phone cover after the CIO operatives grabbed away her phone. Takaona had three lawyers, Collen Maboke, Grace Bwanya and Martin Mureri at the Police. Takaona said after his release that he was arrested for showing care for the bad state of the country’s roads and the safety of school kids. He said he will be back on Thursday to continue cutting down grass and shrubs on the stretch of road.”
Takaona publishes The Masvingo Mirror weekly newspaper in the city of Masvingo.