Crossposted: Man killed, opposition tortured in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwean government, backed into a desperate corner by a growing groundswell of protests, lashed out violently last week brutally crushing a "prayer meeting" planned by a coalition of civic organisations inlcuding the opposition. The fateful prayer meeting, slated for the Zimbabwe Grounds last week in the historically significant Highfields suburb in Harare had been planned by the Save Zimbabwe coalition failed to even take off. In a country with repressive media laws, it was the bloggers and online news outlets that clued the world into what went on in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's state owned media only gave the violence and police brutality cursory mention all the while blaming the MDC. Frustrated by this, Kubatana Blogs wondered

The media in Zimbabwe is owned and operated by the Mugabe regime. So Sunday’s aftermath, aka how the events are being portrayed, is in the hands of the State. Zimbabweans, since last night, are being force fed a diet of MDC thuggery, non-attendance and opposition violence.

This makes me wonder when the pro-democracy movement will get its act together in terms of creating its own robust media and information response unit. The majority of Zimbabweans don’t get satellite tv so Zimbabwe’s prominence on the BBC last night is neither here nor there for those who want to get the real story.

This man, Gift Tandare, was killed by Zimbabwe's police during skirmishes before the rally. On top of that, mourners were shot at his funeral a few days later. Now there are reports that Gift's family has been forced to exhume his body as the police took it away from them. In her ode to Gift posted on Black Looks, Isabella Matambanadzo observes

He was on his way to a prayer meeting. He was committed to joining other Christians in collective worship for some respite from the political and economic problems facing his country. His crime: being an activist for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC. Rest in Peace Gift Tandare. Zorora Murugare.

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Zimbabwe,