A Zimbabwean doctor desperate to leave the country for medical treatment after his recent abduction is now free to go after a High Court judge dismissed an effort by
police to stop him, a lawyer said Wednesday.
Alec Muchadehama confirmed the judge's decision after police had argued that the head of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Dr. Peter Magombeyi, was "unfit to travel." Police on Tuesday had swarmed the hospital where he was recuperating and blocked him from leaving for neighboring
South Africa, even though a judge had ruled he could travel.
Magombeyi's alleged abduction after leading a pay strike led to days of
protests by health workers and expressions of concern by
diplomats and rights groups, who say more than 50 government critics and activists in Zimbabwe have been abducted this year alone.