In Zimbabwe, author Tsitsi Dangarembga — a Booker Prize nominee — was released on bail Saturday, alongside several others, after being arrested for holding anti-government protests. Authorities had banned a Friday protest which was calling for an end to corruption and a worsening economic crisis, but Dangarembga still staged a two-person action, for which she was arrested. Fadzayi Mahere, a lawyer and spokesperson for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance party, who was also released on bail, filmed her own arrest.
Fadzayi Mahere: “Riot police are coming at us, and they’re armed. Riot police are advancing towards us, for the protest.”
Rights groups are warning the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa is intensifying its crackdown on critical voices, comparing his tactics to former leader President Robert Mugabe, who was ousted in 2017.