Rights group says two Zimbabwean lawyers detained

HARARE (Reuters) - Two Zimbabwean human rights lawyers have been detained in what appears to be a widening campaign against the opposition, a rights group said on Saturday.

An official with the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said Alec Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni were arrested in Harare on Friday.

"The two of them were taken in yesterday and we understand they are being detained at Harare Central (Police Station) and there is a suggestion they are facing some charges, trumped-up charges in our view, of obstructing the course of justice, " said the official, who declined to be named.

"This, in our view, is part of this whole campaign against those fighting for democratic space, those fighting for human rights and calling for government accountability," he added.

Police spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said later that the lawyers had been held on a charge of "presenting false and misleading information" in a legal case involving an opposition figure, and that a High Court judge had ordered their release.

"Judge Tedious Karwe, in handing down his decision, argued that it is not the jurisdiction of the police to decide the validity of legal submissions by lawyers, but the duty of the courts," it said in a statement.

State lawyers were unavailable for comment on Saturday evening, and it was not clear whether the police would comply with the order or appeal against it.

Muchadehama and Makoni are members of the group Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. They were part of a team of attorneys that represented opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and dozens of other Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials after they were arrested in March and severely assaulted for defying a government ban on rallies.