Harare church protesters held

Harare church protesters held

Church leaders protested in Bulawayo earlier this week

Some 20 clergymen have been detained by police after attempting to protest in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.

An AFP news agency reporter saw the church men being loaded onto the back of an open vehicle and driven away accompanied by two police vehicles.

The clergymen in suits and dog collars went to police headquarters carrying three wooden crosses seeking an apology for the arrest of one of their colleagues two weeks ago at a church.

The clergymen wanted to hand over a petition to police chief Augustine Chihuri asking him "to ensure that the police force in the country performs its duties with respect for the church and every citizen of Zimbabwe".

They were quoted as saying that it was their duty to overcome "unjust laws that encourage the selective and vindictive exercise of authority".

Relations between the Zimbabwean Government and some churches have deteriorated in recent weeks as leading clergymen have become more outspoken about political repression and economic hardship.

Derek Chiteve of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe told the BBC's Focus on Africa that only one of the 23 protesters was not held and that was because he did not wear a dog collar.

He said the clergymen were being held at the central police station in Harare and had not been charged.

"There's no telling when they'll be released," he said.

Warning

Also on Friday the outspoken Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, was cautioned by police over a service he held during which victims of torture gave testimonies.

The police are seen as partisan

The archbishop said two plain clothes officers visited him and warned him that his services were expected to be of purely religious nature.

He said he told the police that it was impossible to separate issues of hunger, economic hardships and violence from religion.

"If people are suffering... the church cannot excuse itself," he told AFP.

President Mugabe has previously warned church leaders like Archbishop Ncube not to mix religion with politics.

Earlier this week, a small group of Zimbabwean church leaders, led by Archbishop Ncube, marched into the Bulawayo cricket ground just ahead of a Cricket World Cup match with Australia.

The authorities have cracked down on protests during the Cricket World Cup.

Earlier this month, scores of women were detained for taking part in a Valentine's Day "love march".