Tendai Biti Arrested While Trying to Seek Asylum in Zambia
Zimbabwean elections are over but politicians from the MDC alliance still fear for their lives.
Tendai Biti, a prominent figure in the MDC party, has been arrested on charges of "inciting violence" and "preempting election results."
Biti, former finance minister, has been a vocal figure in this past election. Following election results that declared Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner, Biti attempted to flee the country for political asylum. According to his lawyer Nqobizitha Mlilo, Biti was trying to cross the border into Zambia when he was arrested.
Tendai Biti arrested by citizens trying to cross over to Zambia to seek asylum. What happened to leading from the f… https://t.co/seoefm8zUM— Lloyd Msipa🇿🇼 (@Lloyd Msipa🇿🇼)1533719468.0
"We have kickstarted processes of seeking political asylum so we are waiting to see how far the processes will go. His life has been in danger," Mlilo said.
During a press conference on July 31st, Biti claimed that Zanu-PF was planning an assassination attempt on him and Nelson Chamisa. He also accused Zanu-PF of rigging the elections that he believed Chamisa had won.
Tendai Biti declares Nelson Chamisa the winner of the 30/07/18 elections and next president of Zimbabwe. This is on… https://t.co/KX8izFbAW1— Political House Archive (@Political House Archive)1533718307.0
The BBC has reported that the warrant for Biti's arrest claims he "unlawfully" announced Chamisa as the winner of the election.
While many had hoped that the past election would be more peaceful as the first election following Mugabe's ousting, it seems that the battle for power is far from over as the police are still searching for top officials in the opposition party for their involvement in last week's post-election violence.
@BBCAfrica. Who ordered the arrest of @tendaiBiti and his release. Instead of arresting the soldiers who shot and k… https://t.co/grkbik0T88— Wilfred Makomo (@Wilfred Makomo)1533738666.0
With due respect me being not a fan of Tendai Biti’s style of politics but to arrest someone who is submitting hims… https://t.co/mF2guYTsrU— William Zambezi (@William Zambezi)1533721334.0
Zimbabweans now that Tendai Biti has been jailed! If we let these crooks continue, surely every opposition leader s… https://t.co/gEBdErNmjB— Tawanda Muchehiwa (@Tawanda Muchehiwa)1533720997.0
Tendai Biti already nabbed, MDC to challenge the results, Mnangagwa to challenge the challenge, Army general seekin… https://t.co/NvurgF6sJX— Julius Nkosi (@Julius Nkosi)1533741461.0