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Zimbabwe police arrested trade union leaders and scores of activists nationwide on Thursday ahead of planned marches over the country's worsening economic crisis, lawyers said.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights spokesperson Kumbirai Mafunda told AFP that Peter Mutasa, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) - the country's largest trade union - was among those detained, along with activists in three major towns.
Mutasa had called for protests in Harare on Thursday despite a police ban on public gatherings in the capital due to a recent cholera outbreak.
ZCTU planned a national strike to protest against sharp price hikes, a new tax on electronic transactions and daily shortages ranging from fuel to bread as Zimbabwe's economy endures a fresh bout of chaos.
"I confirm the arrests of ZCTU president Mutasa and secretary general (Japhet) Moyo at their offices and scores of other unionists in Harare, Masvingo and Mutare," Mafunda told AFP.
"The constitution provides for the right to demonstrate and petition."
'Zimbabweans are suffering'
Scuffles erupted as police arrested the ZCTU leaders after they addressed a crowd outside the unions' headquarters in the capital.
Before his arrest, a defiant Mutasa told journalists: "We are demonstrating peacefully against hardships. We are here to make the authorities know that Zimbabweans are suffering."
Large numbers of police were on duty in Harare armed with truncheons, guns and teargas canisters while water cannon trucks were parked on some streets.
Zimbabwe's moribund economy has hit new lows in recent days with shops struggling to stock shelves, medicine running out and long queues outside petrol stations.
The local "bond note" currency, which in theory has the same value as the US dollar, has been in freefall in recent weeks, raising fears of a return to the hyper-inflation that wrecked national finances in 2009.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power last year after Robert Mugabe was ousted by the military, has vowed to ensure essential daily goods are available.
