Court orders access to "badly hurt" Tsvangirai

By Cris Chinaka

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's High Court on Monday ordered police to allow lawyers access to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was said to be "in bad shape" after suffering head injuries while in police custody.

Police detained Tsvangirai and dozens of other opposition figures on Sunday and killed a man while breaking up a prayer meeting organised in defiance of a ban on political rallies, and rights groups alleged he and other politicians were tortured.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about the detention, echoing international condemnation against the Zimbabwean government over rights abuses.

A Tsvangirai lawyer said the High Court ordered police late on Monday to give them access to the head of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the other detainees.

"A provisional order was issued that we have access to our clients, that they should be taken to hospital where necessary and that they should be taken to court by 12 (p.m. local time) tomorrow (Tuesday) failure of which they should be released," Alec Muchadehama told Reuters.

Under Zimbabwe's laws, police can detain suspects for up to 48 hours before bringing them to court.

Earlier, a Tsvangirai lawyer, Innocent Chagonda, visited the MDC leader and said he was in bad shape. "He was swollen very badly. He was bandaged on the head. You couldn't distinguish between the head and the face and he could not see properly."

MDC Vice President Thokozani Khupe said the party wanted all detainees freed immediately and pledged that the struggle against President Robert Mugabe would continue.