Zimbabwe's High Court today ordered police to release an opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) member of parliament, who was arrested yesterday for the second time in a week.
Eric Matinenga was initially arrested on June 1st on charges of inciting public violence in his constituency, but was released on Thursday after a magistrate dropped the charges and said he had been wrongly charged.
He was detained for a second time yesterday morning.
Mr Matinenga's arrests come amid accusations by the opposition that President Robert Mugabe's government is trying to sabotage MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's campaign ahead of a June 27 run-off presidential election.
The second round vote follows a disputed March poll which showed Tsvangirai beat Mugabe, but not by enough votes to avoid a run-off.
"The MDC welcomes the judgement as the only logical thing to do as Advocate Matinenga is a fine son of Zimbabwe, whose quest for the freedom of the people of Zimbabwe is unquestionable," the party said in a statement.
Six MDC lawmakers have been arrested for various offences since the March 29th poll.
The opposition, rights groups and opposition members accuse veteran leader Mr Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party of trying to rig the election by intimidating voters, undermining the MDC and thwarting its campaign efforts.