16 April 2021.
The violent behavior displayed by the police against innocent and peaceful friends of Job Sikhala, who came to Rotten Row Magistrates Court for solidarity at his trial on fake charges of inciting public violence can not go unchallenged.
The police came full in their truck and started assaulting hundreds of people who wanted to get into Court and follow the proceedings. These people remained calm throughout despite assaults and denial to enter the court.
After being denied to enter the Court, they sat peacefully outside waiting for the proceedings to complete and disperse thereafter only for them to be assaulted randomly without notice and flew into different directions.
This has to STOP. It’s unacceptable and if it persists, we do what we know best. To our shock and surprise, the police came and started assaulting everyone at the vicinity of Rotten Row Court.
This pushed the people to regroup in Harare CBD and showed their displeasure through a demonstration. The demonstration that took place in Harare, yesterday was provoked by the police.
This should send a clear message that, we as the Friends of Job Sikhala, will not tolerate to be abused for no apparent reasons. If the behavior displayed by the police yesterday at Rotten Row persists on Wednesday the 21st of April 2021, where we will converge once more again to hear the judgement of the application made by his lawyers, we are going to SHUTDOWN, Harare.
We generally don’t make empty threats as our history demonstrate in the past. We dare the police to behave the way they did yesterday at Rotten Row and we assure you that we will retreat into the CBD and what comes thereafter will be the consequences of the behavior of the police.
It won’t be business as usual in Harare. It won’t operate on the day in question. We will do what we have been denied to do by the dictatorship of Emmerson Mnangagwa.
We will shut it down easily. This we will carry it out. Stop the abuse you did yesterday and this is a WARNING .
Department of Information and Publicity Friends of Job Sikhala Solidarity Trust