As Democracy Advocates: Women HRDs 29 escalation of poverty, the low mortality rate and the post-election violence in Zimbabwe. During this peaceful procession, armed members of the riot police pounced on the women HRDs and arrested 13 WOZA activists, including Jennifer Williams, Magodonga Mahlangu, Celine Madukani and one male (MOZA) activist, Mandlenkosi Moyo. They were assaulted and verbally abused by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) during arrest and detention. They were eventually taken to court on 31 May 2008, where an application for bail was successfully made. However, in a disturbing and controversial trend, the state notified the magistrate of its intention to appeal the bail decision and consequently all activists remained in custody. They appeared in the High Court on 10 June 2008, and were eventually released after the state’s appeal against bail was unsuccessful. 27 October 2008: The co-ordinator of the Women’s Coalition, Netsai Mushonga, and 41 other members were arrested when they assembled near the venue where the inter-party political negotiations (following disputed national elections in 2008) were being conducted, in order to influence the process. Police did not follow proper procedures of dispersing people, making their actions and the subsequent arrest and detention arbitrary and unjustifiable. After three hours, the women were made to pay admission of guilt fines for disorderly conduct as they had been denied access to their lawyers and did not want to spend time detained in filthy cells. 14 February 2013: About 189 members of WOZA were arrested by the police whilst holding their annual Saint Valentine’s Day March in Bulawayo on 14 February. During the peaceful procession, the members were giving people roses and messages of love and peace. Police disrupted the march and arrested the women HRDs. All, save for one woman who had removed all her clothes at the police station in protest against the ill treatment, were released without charge. The remaining woman HRD, Bertha Sibanda, was charged with “public indecent exposure” as defined in the Criminal (Law Codification and Reform) Act. The police refused to release her into the custody of her ZLHR appointed lawyers. Sibanda’s trial was finally conducted, and she was acquitted of the charges she was facing. Freedom of association In 2008 – the year of bitterly contested and extremely violent national elections in Zimbabwe – a number of women HRDs who sought to assert their right to freely associate with a political party of their choice came under particular attack. 25 April 2008: ZLHR lawyers intervened in the case of Evelyn Masaiti & Ors v Minister of Home Affairs and Ors.38 Police from Harare Central Police Station had raided the offices of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) political party at Harvest House along Nelson Mandela Avenue in Harare, the location where internally displaced political activists were being sheltered and protected against further attacks which had been carried out against them in various constituencies throughout the country as retribution for them voting for the MDC. Most of them had become destitute following the burning of their houses and destruction of their property. The raid was conducted in terms of a search warrant allowing the police to “search for suspicious people”, defined as “articles in the possession of or under the control of MDC.” In this dragnet arrest, a total of 215 people, including women and children, 38 High Court Harare unreported case 2381/08.