Seven Zimbabwean opposition supporters have appeared in court on murder and assault charges after the killing of a man said to be a member of the ruling party ahead of a by-election, the Herald reported Saturday.
A magistrate at Bikita on Friday denied bail to the seven, three of whom are accused of murder, saying that to do so would send the "wrong signals to those who may want to take part in political violence", the state-owned daily reported.
They were remanded in custody until after the election, due to be held next weekend in the Bikita-West constituency, some 350 kilometers (220 miles) south of Harare. The vote follows the death from an illness of the former member of parliament from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Zimbabwean police had by Friday arrested 97 members of the MDC in the rural district in the wake of violence. MDC supporters allegedly stabbed to death a member of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).
Despite the arrests, the MDC said was sending reinforcements to beef up the 50-strong team of campaigners it had earlier sent to the rural area of Bikita to help "defend" its members there.
More than 43 cases of political violence have been reported in the constituency since mid-December, when campaigning for the seat gained momentum.
Refusing to free any of the suspects who appeared before him on Friday, magistrate Sunsley Zisengwe said: "There are only eight days to go before the elections and this will spark a fresh wave of violence."
At least 34 people died and thousands more were beaten in political clashes ahead of a general election held in June last year.
That poll was won by ZANU-PF, but the MDC, a newly formed movement challenging President Robert Mugabe's governing party for the first time, came a narrow second -- HARARE (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
