Ruling Party Militant Held in Activist’s Death

A ruling party militant has been arrested and charged with killing an opposition activist, court officials said Friday, and opposition leaders said the man was behind a campaign to terrorize voters in Zimbabwe’s parliamentary election last weekend.

Big Chitoro, who claims to be a leader of veterans of the bush war that led to independence in 1980, is the first militant to be prosecuted in the killings of at least 30 people in political violence since February.

State prosecutors have charged him in the kidnapping of opposition campaigner Finos Zhou, 21, and his elder brother James, who were beaten and burned with cigarettes during three days of interrogation. Finos Zhou died June 9 from his injuries, and his brother is still under treatment in the district hospital.

Chitoro appeared in court Thursday and was ordered held until another court session July 13. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment or the death penalty.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change accuses Chitoro of leading a campaign of terror in Mberengwa district--about 190 miles southwest of Harare, the capital--that is part of the widespread intimidation that the opposition says swung the June 24-25 parliamentary vote in favor of President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party.

Mugabe’s party won a narrow majority of 62 of 120 elected parliamentary seats in the vote.

The opposition party is challenging ruling party victories in 20 districts, including two Mberengwa constituencies. As part of its appeal to the High Court, the party said, it will argue that one of its candidates fled death threats in April and that party organizers were prevented from campaigning by Chitoro and his followers, who ran a military-style operation, blocking roads, raiding villages at night and taking prisoners to a farm stockade for interrogation.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Friday that 26 people have been arrested in clashes between rival party supporters that broke out after the election.