Zimbabwe Police Raids Photo Exhibition

Tsvangirai who had already left the venue, was the guest of honour at the exhibition which showcased photos of victims of unprecedented political violence of 2008.

Tsvangirai had instructed his co-Home Affairs Minister Giles Mutsekwa who was present at the exhibition, which was also attended by some 300 guests, to protect the ZimRights director Okay Machisa and other human rights defenders. Zimrights organised the event.

Machisa who is now in hiding, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the staging of the event but was later released on the orders of Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai had at the exhibition called on Machisa to come out of hiding and carry on his work.

“Mr Machisa should not hide, he should come out. No one is going to threaten him. We will see what we can do,” said Tsvangirai.

The police officers left without arresting anyone as they failed to locate the organisers.

The exhibition went ahead as planned after High Court Judge Justice Samuel Kudya had ordered the police to return the Zimrights pictures it had seized. The photos were returned minutes before the event started.