Leading Zimbabwean activist Evan Mawarire got detained by police on Wednesday when he was taken from his house during a crackdown after anti-government protests, AFP reporters witnessed.
The nationwide protests were triggered by the government announcing an increase in the prices of fuel over the weekend. The increase announced was more than double in price as the country’s economic crisis deepens.
Police had been at Mawarire’s property for more than two hours before he was driven away in a truck.
“Armed police surrounded his residence this morning and he has been picked up. We don’t know for what purpose,” Teldah Mawarire, his sister, told AFP. “I was directly in contact with him until he was taken and he could no longer be online. We are very concerned.”
Security forces have shot dead at least five people while 25 others have been wounded during the crackdown since Monday’s protests, according to Human Rights Watch.
“Those responsible for using unlawful lethal force should be promptly investigated and held accountable,” Dewa Mavhinga, Southern Africa director at HRW, said in a statement.

Image: MOELETSI MABE
HRW said security forces responded with live ammunition, rubber bullets and teargas on Monday after protesters burned a police station, barricaded roads with large rocks, and looted shops in Harare, Kadoma and Bulawayo cities.
Mawarire, who is a pastor, became a prominent voice in 2016 protests when he posted social media videos criticising the government while he wore a Zimbabwean flag around his neck. The videos inspired the ThisFlag movement that led mass protests across the country against Robert Mugabe, the long-time president who was ousted in 2017 after a military takeover.
Mawarire, who was holding a Zimbabwean flag as he was taken away on Wednesday, has also been a fierce critic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a veteran of the ruling Zanu-PF party who succeeded Mugabe.
Mawarire’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa told reporters he had been taken to a city centre police station. “They are alleging that he incited violence… through Twitter and other forms of social media particularly in the central business district,” she said.