Dozens Arrested in Zimbabwe for Alleged Egypt-Style Protest Plot

At least 46 people remained in custody in Zimbabwe today after being arrested for allegedly plotting an overthrow of longtime President Robert Mugabe after watching videos of news reports about the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

Their lawyers have been told the 46 detainees could face up 20 years in prison.

The group of students and political activists were arrested by about 35 police officers Saturday night in Harare, the capital of the southern African nation, while watching videos of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt originally broadcast on Al-Jazeera and the BBC, according to The Zimbabwean, an independent newspaper published by Zimbabweans in exile.

The meeting was organized by the prominent activist Munyaradzi Gwisai, a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe's law school, and was aimed at enabling people without Internet access or cable TV to watch news reports about the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, The New York Times reported.

Police confiscated a video projector, two DVD discs and a laptop from the meeting organizers.

Alec Muchadehama, a human rights lawyer, told the Times that Gwisai was one of seven of the detainees to be beaten with truncheons. Lawyers were not able to interview the detainees for almost 48 hours.

"This is a message that 'If you attempt anything, we're going to arrest you, assault you, incarcerate you, lay false charges against you, deny you bail and occupy you with false trials,'" Muchadehama told the Times. "That's the message -- 'Don't attempt this, it can't be done here.'"

Muchadehama said Gwisai and the other participants were merely engaged in "an academic debate about what was happening in Tunisia and Egypt."

Zimbabwe, which has been in the often brutal grip of Mugabe since 1980, would seem ripe for the kind of protests sweeping the Middle East. However, most Zimbabweans live in even worse poverty than Tunisians and Egyptians do, and mounting a successful protest against Mugabe's fierce security apparatus is thought by many to be unlikely right now.

Harare police spokesman James Sabau said the 46 were arrested on suspicion of attending an "illegal" meeting designed "to support the struggle in solidarity with Egyptian and Tunisian workers," the state-controlled Herald reported.

Sabau described the topic of discussion at the meeting as "Revolt in Egypt and Tunisia. What lessons can be learnt by Zimbabwe and Africa?" The videos were shown to inspire participants to "subvert" the government, Sabau added.

In Zimbabwe, the police force is a branch of the national security apparatus controlled by Mugabe.

Mugabe, 87, and his party have ruled Zimbabwe since 1980. In 2009 he was pressured to share power with an opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, after a disputed 2008 election. But Tsvangirai withdrew from the deal that same year after Mugabe's forces beat thousands of his supporters.

Gwisai's wife, Shantha Bloemen, who works for the United Nations in Johannesburg, South Africa, told the Times, "Obviously, all the happenings in Egypt and Tunisia have been taking center stage. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss what's happened, especially for people who don't have access to the Internet or cable TV, both to express solidarity and to discuss the implications for Zimbabwe."