RSS 2.0 FeedAugust 2011 - Vol 36, Human rights and abuse
Zimbabwean diamond activist barred from leaving
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Lawyers for a prominent Zimbabwean human rights activist say state security officials prevented him from leaving the southern African nation for a conference in Ireland on rights violations.
Lawyers for Farai Maguwu said Sunday that his airline boarding pass was seized Saturday along with his passport, laptop and personal notebooks. Maguwu was jailed for five weeks earlier this year for allegedly releasing information on killings and violence in eastern Zimbabwe's controversy-mired diamond fields.
He was scheduled to speak at the Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders Sept. 14-16.
The lawyers say Maguwu's luggage was taken off the plane and also "tampered with."
No official explanation was given. Lawyers immediately sought a court ruling allowing him to travel.
