Zimbabwe's government has no respect for the rights of its people, detained protest pastor Evan Mawarire says in a video recorded before his arrest on Wednesday.
In the clip - filmed by the London-based Index on Censorship and posted online before he appeared in court in Harare on Friday afternoon - Mawarire says: "I am a law-abiding citizen. I am a person who loves Zimbabwe."
"The video you are watching has been posted because I have returned back home to Zimbabwe and unfortunately our government has decided to arrest me," Mawarire says. He is dressed in a heavy jumper and has Zimbabwe's national flag draped round his neck in what has become the symbol of his #ThisFlag protest movement.
He has been charged with trying to overthrow President Robert Mugabe's government and insulting the flag. Prosecutors want to remand the father-of-three in custody until February 17, it has been reported.
"My arrest symbolises or shows the fact that our government has no respect for the rights of people across the world and in fact Zimbabweans have been under this kind of repression for many years," Mawarire adds. -- News24