Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) issued this alert today:

Police deny BPRA clearance to stage demonstrations

Police have denied Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) clearance to stage demonstrations or hold meetings that were pencilled in for the month of March 2011. Police said there were given a directive not to clear any meetings or demonstrations but did not reveal from what level the order came. BPRA is organising a large scale demonstration against poor service delivery by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), Bulawayo City Council (BCC), Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), registrar’s office and retailers in the city that is set for 31 March 2011.

BPRA sees the police’s move as an affront to freedom of expression and the right of Zimbabweans to assembly. The association has vowed to defy the police rule and carry out all its activities as planned while seeking advice from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) on possible legal action. Police patrols in the city have increased significantly in recent weeks, lending credence to speculations that the armed forces have been deployed to quell any unrest that may arise in the country following widespread demonstrations in North Africa.

This entry was posted on March 3rd, 2011 at 5:37 pm by Bev Clark and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.