Zimbabwe: Morgan Tsvangirai beaten: Police brutality or self-defence?

 

On Sunday 11th March, the two factional MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Professor Arthur Mutambara attend a banned rally in Zimbabwe. Both were subsequently arrested, and Mr Tsvangirai was beaten severely. A media reporting frenzy followed the incident, as the images of Mr Tsvangirai’s cuts and bruises were circulated around the world on television broadcasts, newspapers and electronic print media. The Western media laid the the responsibility for the beating received by Tsvangirai is laid squarely at the door of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.

Zimbabwe's deputy commissioner of police, Godwin Matanga describes what took place on that fateful day, and paints a different picture of the events:

"... Mr Tsvangirai was then phoned by one of his own members telling him that he was losing the limelight to Arthur Mutambara because Arthur had been arrested and was already in police cells, and that if he didn’t come, Arthur was going to take the glory and world attention from him.

So Mr Tsvangirai, not wanting to lose the limelight to Mutambara, then drove straight to the Machipisa police station. When he got to the main gate, he encountered the police officers manning the gate. There was a group of ordinary people and MDC supporters standing outside the gate when Mr Tsvangirai arrived and demanded the release of Mutambara and others.

The police openly told him not to get inside the station as the people outside were trying to overrun the station. Tsvangirai, defying the police admonitions, tried to force his way into the station. That’s when he was beaten up by our officers."