TWO drivers working for Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai were released from prison on Tuesday after spending five days in a prison cell in what lawyers described as a deliberate act of harassment against the pro-democracy leader.
Lawyer Kossam Ncube said Clifford Sanyika and Joshua Mhuruyengwe, who drive escort vehicles for Tsvangirai's official motorcade, were granted bail of US$200.
The two had been arrested for equipping their cars with blue beacon lights, which in Zimbabwe are only allowed to be used by the police or by President Robert Mugabe's motorcade.
The two drivers had just returned from South Africa, where they had bought the beacons. Ncube said the lights had not been fitted, but were in their boxes on the back seats of the vehicles when they were stopped by the police.
“It's all political, it has ominous undertones,” Ncube said.
The incident follows a recent surge of violence against Tsvangirai supporters.