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| - Zimbabwean police on Friday arrested a lawmaker and outspoken opposition leader who went into hiding in late July after he appeared on a police wanted list, his party said. The largest opposition Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance (MDC-A) tweeted that its vice chairman, Job Sikhala, had been arrested but gave no details. The state-run daily Herald cited police confirming that Sikhala, who is also a lawyer, had been arrested in the western Harare suburb of Tynwald. Sikhala is one of more than a dozen anti-government activists who went into hiding after police issued an alert seeking information leading to their arrest ahead of anti-government protests planned for July 31. His party and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said he was charged with inciting public violence for allegedly backing the protest. His arrest came as another opposition politician and government critic, Jacob Ngarivhume, was denied bail for the third time since being detained for calling the protests. The demonstrations were de-facto banned because of Zimbabwe's anti-coronavirus measures. Ngarivhume made a last-ditch attempt to secure his release, arguing that the demonstrations had remained peaceful. But a magistrate rejected this argument and said Ngarivhume remained a danger to society as he could organise protests if let out on bail. Ngarivhume, the leader of Transform Zimbabwe, has been in jail since July 20 on charges of inciting public violence. He was arrested alongside prominent investigative journalist Hopewell Chin'ono, who also remains in prison on public order charges. A ruling on Chin'ono's latest bail application is expected on Monday. More than a dozen demonstrators who tried to protest, but were snatched from the streets, included top writer Tsitsi Dangarembga and Fadzayi Mahere, the MDC-A spokeswoman. They were charged with inciting violence and then freed on bail. Zimbabwe's influential Catholic bishops issued a rare and unusually strong pastoral letter earlier this month, deploring the "unprecedented" government crackdown on dissent against a backdrop of economic ruin and allegations of rampant rights abuses.earllier fj-str-sn/pvh
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