HARARE, Zimbabwe, June 8 (UPI) -- A Zimbabwean court ruled opposition rallies that had been planned for this weekend in Harare should not have been banned, an opposition spokesman says.
The spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, said Saturday's ruling had limited effect since it was issued too late for two opposition rallies scheduled that day in urban townships to be reinstated, The New York Times reported Sunday.
The Movement for Democratic Change's rallies had two more rallies set for Sunday afternoon in Harare, he said.
The ruling does not affect a nationwide ban on opposition rallies,
"We still have to deal with a ban put in place nationally, which is making it difficult for us to campaign," Chamisa said.
The party's presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the most votes in presidential elections in March, and he faces President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, in a runoff less than three weeks away.
The newspaper reported that human rights groups and aid officials accuse Mugabe's party of trying to clear the countryside of independent witnesses to its violent campaign against the opposition and to control the flow of patronage to win votes.
