BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — Eleven church leaders were arrested February 16 following a series of prayer meetings in the Hillside suburb of Bulawayo, this southern African nation’s second largest city located about 250 miles southwest of the capital, Harare.
Relatives who visited the prisoners the next day found them in good spirits and “proud to be in prison for Christ.” The Christians have since been released on bail of $1,000 each.
The 10 men and one woman had been taking part in a series of interdenominational services organized by four Hillside churches to pray for peace in the forthcoming presidential elections. Critics have railed against President Robert Mugabe’s handling of the land redistribution issue and the elections March 9–10, which have left a trail of arbitrary imprisonments, beatings, state confiscation of property and threats against blacks and whites. (TAB)
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