Opposition 'thrown to lions'

The MDC won mostly urban seats in June elections

By Grant Ferrett in Harare

Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, says it is taking legal action against the police after more than 50 of its supporters were tortured by police officers in the south-eastern town of Bikita, which is due to hold a by-election this weekend.

The party says they were beaten with rifle butts and burnt with cigarettes over the course of several days, before being abandoned in a remote part of a game reserve which is home to animals such as lions and elephants.

The opposition won the constituency from the government during parliamentary elections last June.

And this latest by-election is proving to be every bit as violent as one held in November and last year's general election.

Campaign 'with lions'

Heavily-armed police have mounted roadblocks throughout the remote rural constituency of Bikita West following the murder two weeks ago of a member of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

More than 100 opposition supporters have been arrested, and the opposition say more than half of them were tortured.

After five days of interrogation and beatings, 13 were driven late at night by the police into the middle of Gonarezhou national park.

They say they were ordered at gunpoint to walk into the game reserve, with the police remarking "if you're so keen to campaign, you can start with the lions".

All escaped unharmed.

A police spokesman said the reports were being investigated but suggested they were unlikely to be true.

The ruling party has accused the opposition of initiating the violence and insists that its campaign has been peaceful.