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Zimbabwean police on Thursday released some 200 women, two days after their arrest for holding a protest against deteriorating living conditions in the southern African country.
Hundreds of women, some with children strapped to their backs, this week took part in Valentine's Day marches organised by the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) in Harare and in the second city of Bulawayo.
Under Zimbabwe's tough security laws, groups must seek permission from police to hold a rally or protest.
"All the women who were arrested in Harare on Tuesday are being released," said lawyer Sarah Chishiri of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).
The women were ordered to pay a fine of 250,000 Zimbabwean dollars, or 2.50 US dollars, for obstructing traffic, said Chishiri.
"We are appalled by the conditions in which they were held for the simple reason of exercising their democratic right," Chishiri said.
The marches on Monday in Bulawayo and Tuesday in Harare were to mark Valentine's Day with a protest against the rising cost of living.
Some 141 women including 14 children were released in Bulawayo on Wednesday after being charged with taking part in a march without police clearance and obstructing traffic.
"To coincide with Valentine's Day we were making a statement demanding roses and the dignity they stand for and bread in the form of affordable food for everyone," WOZA spokeswoman Jenni Williams told AFP.
Grocery stores across Zimbabwe have run out of the staple cornmeal as the country continues to reel under chronic food shortages and near record high inflation of 613 percent.
At least four million of the country's population of 13 million will require food aid until the next harvest in May, according to aid agencies.
President Robert Mugabe's government blames the food deficit on drought which affected parts of southern Africa while his critics say shortages were caused by the the land reform programme which saw the seizure of white-owned commercial farms.
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AFP 161514 GMT 02 06
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