Rights group Amnesty International has called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to drop “sinister charges” against University of Zimbabwe students who have been protesting against a recent fees hike.
Police have arrested 19 students at the University of Zimbabwe since Monday after they embarked on peaceful #FeesMustFall demonstrations against high tuition fee hikes by the university.
The students are currently detained at a police station in the capital and face charges of “disorderly conduct”.
“It is such a travesty of justice that these students are having to spend time in detention and courtrooms for simply asking for affordable education so that they can remain in lecture rooms,” Amnesty International Zimbabwe executive director Lucia Masuka said on Thursday.
She described the arrests as a violation of the students’ right to protest.
“Authorities must respect students’ right to peaceful protest and drop all charges against them,” Masuka said.
She added: “We consider the arrests to be arbitrary and call on the Zimbabwe Republic Police to respect the freedom to petition and demonstrate as guaranteed by the constitution.”
Some of the arrested students were granted after appearing in court on Wednesday.
The university recently announced a hefty increase in tuition fees of up to 1000 percent, requiring undergraduate students to pay up to Z$500,000 (about US$900) per semester depending on the faculty, up from around Z$50,000.
JN/APA