Milícia de Mugabe queima viva mulher de opositor no Zimbábue, diz jornal
colaboração para a Folha OnlineA mulher de Patson Chipiro --líder no distrito de Mhondoro do partido de oposição ao governo zimbabuano-- foi queimada viva na última sexta-feira (6) pela milícia do ditador Robert Mugabe.
De acordo com o jornal, sete homens em três picapes procuravam por Patson Chipiro, 51, mas encontraram apenas Dadirai, 45, sua mulher.
| Pier Paolo Cito/AP |
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| Milícia ligada ao ditador Robert Mugabe (foto) queima viva mulher de opositor no Zimbábue |
Os grupo "a agarrou, cortou uma de suas mãos e seus dois pés. Depois, jogaram-na em sua casa, trancaram a porta e jogaram uma bomba de gasolina pela janela", conta o jornal.
A morte por hemorragia e queimaduras graves foi confirmada por laudo feito no hospital missionário católico de Saint Michael.
Dadirai, que era ex-professora pré-escolar, foi a segunda mulher de membros do Movimento para a Mudança Democrática (MCD, na sigla em inglês) queimada viva na última sexta-feira por milicianos do partido governista (PF).
Outra foi Pamela Pasvani, mulher de um vereador de Harare, que estava grávida e tinha 21 anos. Não foi mutilada, mas morreu com seu filho de seis anos pelas queimaduras graves.
Quando chegou a Mhondoro, seu marido encontrou em chamas suas três cabanas de tijolos.
"Eu tentei apagar o fogo e achei que minha mulher estava escondendo-se atrás das árvores", disse Chiprio.
Chiprio diz estar com medo de ser também atacado. "Querem me matar, mas não tenho alternativa. Minha presença aqui como líder é muito importante. Se eu sair, todos sairão. Quero lutar nessa batalha a partir daqui", afirmou o líder de oposição.
Prisão
Também nesta quinta-feira, a polícia do Zimbábue prendeu pela terceira vez em pouco mais de uma semana o líder da oposição Morgan Tsvangirai enquanto ele fazia campanha para o segundo turno das eleições presidenciais marcadas para o dia 27 de junho, informou o MDC.
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Mais cedo, a polícia prendeu o secretário-geral do partido no aeroporto de Harare logo após ele ter chegado em um vôo da África do Sul. Biti, o número três do partido, deixou o país logo após a disputa do dia 29 de março para obter apoio africano.
"Ele foi detido com relação ao anúncio prematuro dos resultados [das eleições] antes do anúncio oficial dos resultados pela comissão Eleitoral do Zimbábue", disse o porta-voz da polícia, Wayne Bvudzijena.
O MDC afirma que os ativistas do partido de Mugabe, o Zanu-PF, mataram 66 de seus apoiadores para tentar intimidar os eleitores antes do segundo-turno, e a polícia deteve Tsvangirai duas vezes na semana passada durante sua campanha. O partido governante acusa a oposição pela violência política.
Tsvangirai venceu Mugabe nas eleições presidenciais de 29 de março, mas não conseguiu reunir o número de votos suficiente para vencer no primeiro turno.
Robert Mugabe's militia burn opponent’s wife alive
The men who pulled up in three white pickup trucks were looking for Patson Chipiro, head of the Zimbabwean opposition party in Mhondoro district. His wife, Dadirai, told them he was in Harare but would be back later in the day, and the men departed.
An hour later they were back. They grabbed Mrs Chipiro and chopped off one of her hands and both her feet. Then they threw her into her hut, locked the door and threw a petrol bomb through the window.
The killing last Friday – one of the most grotesque atrocities committed by Robert Mugabe’s regime since independence in 1980 – was carried out on a wave of worsening brutality before the run-off presidential elections in just over two weeks. It echoed the activities of Foday Sankoh, the rebel leader in the Sierra Leone civil war that ended in 2002, whose trade-mark was to chop off hands and feet.
Mrs Chipiro, 45, a former pre-school teacher, was the second wife of a junior official of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) burnt alive last Friday by Zanu (PF) militiamen. Pamela Pasvani, the 21-year-old pregnant wife of a local councillor in Harare, did not suffer mutilation but died later of her burns; his six-year-old son perished in the flames.
Yesterday about 70 local MDC supporters gathered in Mr Chipiro’s small yard in Mhondoro, 90 miles south of Harare, to protect him. Inside the hut where his wife of 29 years died, women sang softly to a subdued drum beat next to the cheap wooden coffin. The thatched roof had been destroyed in the fire so they sat under the open sky. The lid could not be closed because Mrs Chipiro’s outstretched arm had burnt rigid. Her charred hand was found as women swept the hut.
Mr Chipiro, 51, a small, determined man, arrived from Harare on Friday afternoon to find his three brick huts ablaze. “I was trying to put the fire out,” he said. “I thought my wife was hiding in the bushes.”
His four-year-old nephew, Admire, heard him calling her. “He ran to me. He said, ‘Auntie has been beaten and they threw her in the fire’.”
Bright Matonga, the Deputy Information Minister and the MP for the area, lives just over a mile away. There is also a Zanu (PF) youth militia camp near by. Mr Matonga routinely blames the violence – in which nearly 70 people have died and 25,000 have been left homeless since the elections on March 29 – on Britain and the United States. He claims that they pay the MDC to put on Zanu party regalia and attack Mr Mugabe’s opponents.
When Mr Chipiro went to the police, they refused to give him an official crime incident report. They fetched the body at about 10pm, he said. A post-mortem examination was carried out at St Michael’s Catholic mission hospital. At first police gave Mr Chipiro a report that left out the causes of death. An officer intervened and produced an authentic report.
The report said that seven men assaulted Mrs Chipiro “before dragging her in one of the houses and set all three houses on fire”. It said that the body showed “signs of assault since all hands and legs were broken”. The doctor who carried out the post-mortem described the cause of death as haemorrhaging and severe burns. “These youths are taught cruelty,” Mr Chipiro said. “They get used to murdering. They enjoy murdering. They are doing it for money.”
He said that thugs returned for him two nights ago but fled when they saw his supporters. “I am very frightened,” he said. “They want to kill me. But I have no alternative. My presence here as a leader is very important. If I leave, everyone else will leave. I intend to fight the battle, from here.”
