Zimbabwe pastor arrested after leading campaign to oust Mugabe

Police took Mawarire to his home in the capital, Harare, to search the property, said his lawyer, Harrison Nkomo.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said she had no details on the issue and could not immediately comment.

“They said they were looking for subversive materials, a crushed police helmet and a baton stick allegedly seized from the police in last week’s protests”.

The law under which the 39-year-old preacher has been detained carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

Evan Mawarire, a pastor, handed himself over to police Tuesday in the company of a lawyer after police indicated they wanted to question him.

Further shutdowns are planned on Wednesday and Thursday in a surge of public anger over the country’s worsening economic crisis and opposition to the authoritarian regime of Mugabe, 92.

Head of CID Law and Order section, Chrispen Makedenge, was reportedly seeking a warrant from the magistrates’ court to get access to his mobile phone, which the State believes was being used to send messages about the protests to citizens.

Mawarire called a one day shut-down protest last week that closed businesses across the southern African nation, the biggest strike action since 2005.

“It’s provoked a certain amount of panic from the authorities given the scale of the stay-away”, Pigou said.

The video, in which Mawarire was wearing a Zimbabwean flag, spawned the ThisFlag hashtag movement which has become a rallying call for the protests.

“We are pushing for a “stay-away” (shutdown) because there is nothing else we can do for the government to listen to us”. “We have stood up and raised our voices to build this nation”, Mawarire said.

Last Friday police summoned and arrested Prosper Mkwananzi, spokesman for social media group Tajamuka (We refuse) on charges of public violence.

Yesterday, a Harare Magistrate released Promise Mukwanazi on $300 bail. His complaints struck an immediate chord with Zimbabweans and 120,000 people watched his video in its first week.