Badly bruised leader of the MDC Morgan Tsvangirai taken to court

(13 Mar 2007) SHOTLIST ++AUDIO AS INCOMING++ 1. Wide of Magistrates Court 2. Media in front of court 3. Wide of truck carrying Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai (light blue short sleeved shirt) and supporters 4. Various of Tsvangirai being helped off the truck and towards court 5. Tsvangirai standing next to man with bandaged head and arm, Tsvangirai's right eye appears swollen and the right side of his head is shaven 6. Tsvangirai entering court building followed by large group of singing supporters 7. Police outside court STORYLINE The leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party and about 50 other democracy activists, some of them bandaged and bruised, appeared in court on Tuesday, two days after they were arrested for trying to attend an opposition meeting. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, needed help from supporters to walk and had a large gash on his head with about 10 stitches. His face and eyes appeared were badly swollen. Tsvangirai was allegedly tortured after being arrested when police crushed the gathering organised as a prayer meeting by a coalition of opposition, church and civic groups under the "Save Zimbabwe" banner. Many members of the group brought to a magistrate's court on Tuesday in a large police truck arrived singing and chanting, but Tsvangirai was silent. The police presence was heavy. Their lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said no charges were immediately laid and the state prosecutor had no instructions. She said legal representatives were on their way to the office of the attorney general to learn whether they would be released. The court adjourned for lunch with the group still sitting inside. Late on Monday, High Court Judge Chinemberi Bhunu had ordered police to allow Tsvangirai and others to receive immediate medical treatment and access to their lawyers. Lawyers had said earlier that police did not allow the medical care and legal advice Bhunu had ordered. Human Rights doctors said in a statement that at least 20 people were in urgent need of medical attention, including Tsvangirai, after Sunday's unrest. One activist, Lovemore Madhuku, arrived at the court on Tuesday with a bandaged arm following treatment. On Sunday, one opposition activist, Gift Tandare, was shot dead in unrest surrounding the prayer meeting. Two mourners were slightly injured in skirmishes with police on Tuesday at his funeral. United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour added her voice to mounting international criticism of Zimbabwean authorities. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the US State Department, the European Union, Amnesty International and the human rights committee of the International Bar Association also have expressed concern and condemnation. Opponents of President Robert Mugabe blame him for acute food shortages, inflation of some 1,600 percent , the highest in the world, and repression and corruption. They have demanded the ouster of 83-year-old Mugabe, Zimbabwe's only ruler since independence from Britain in 1980. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...