Staff working for a Tearfund partner in Zimbabwe were today arrested by riot police.
Five workers for the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) were taken from their Harare offices to the city's central police station for questioning.
It's understood that during the raid at least one staff member was assaulted.
Useni Sibanda, national coordinator for the ZCA, said, ‘This is pure harassment of church organisations.
`We are just doing our usual work and we don’t understand why we should be attacked by riot police like this.’
During the raid, the police confiscated papers including the March edition of the ZCA newsletter.
Aggressive
It is understood that no charges have yet been brought against any of those taken into custody.
A lawyer from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is in Harare to represent those detained.
The raid follows the Mugabe regime’s confrontation with diplomats last week and the increased intimidation of civil society groups.
The ZCA is a partner organisation of Tearfund, working for peaceful and democratic change.
Karyn Beattie, Tearfund's Disaster Management Adviser for Zimbabwe, said, `We have been seeing more and more intimidation, much of it aggressive, against our church partner organisations.
‘However, church leaders and volunteers will continue to help the poorest in society.’