Zimbabwe's election authorities consider that there have been fraudulent counts in the processing of votes. The suspects have been arrested by the national police, reaching the number of 40 charged so far.
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These are activists who participated voluntarily in the polling stations and the counting of votes, who would have made an unofficial count of the results of their tables.
The elections in Zimbabwe have suffered several setbacks in their preparation and implementation days. Already this Wednesday, logistical problems were reported that made the process stop at many voting and coordination points throughout the country, which were resolved before the legal voting day ended that day.
The detainees belong to several civil society organizations, such as the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and the Election Resource Center (ERC), according to the local news portal New Zimbabwe.
The detainees are activists who carry out their social work in Harare and have also been accused of being sympathizers of the opposition party and acting on its behalf in the counting of votes. Their cell phones, computers and all kinds of documentation associated with the events were seized.
"The team was illegally tabulating the results they were receiving from election observers and political polling agents of the Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC)," police spokesman Paul Nyathi told the media.
The detections were the result of an operation that included several points of the capital Harare, where hotels, commercial establishments and houses, such as those in the Belgravia neighborhood and Milton Park, were intercepted.
Nyathi also stated that the activists intended to carry out the publication of the election results, without prior consultation and authorization from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the entity in charge of designing and distributing all official information related to the elections.
"We would like to appeal to Zimbabweans to remain calm and assure them that any form of chaos instigated, whether by private individuals, civil organizations or political parties, will be dealt with severely", Nyathi added in his speech. The detainees will be remanded in police custody until investigations are completed, and a trial can be held.
On the part of the detainees, the lawyers representing them have expressed dissatisfaction with the treatment they have received. Lawyer Rose Hanzi warned that detainees belonging to the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) have not been allowed to communicate with their families. The lawyers have called for the detainees to be treated with dignity, their safety guaranteed, and their constitutional rights respected.