Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's government warned today that the opposition would pay "a heavy price" for what it called a campaign of violence to remove it from power.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is in intensive care with a suspected skull fracture his lawyer said he sustained while in police custody.
In a statement released today, Mugabe's government was unapologetic, and suggested that Tsvangirai and his MDC colleagues had been assaulted for resisting arrest and for launching a violent drive to overthrow his ZANU-PF party.
The government accused Tsvangirai and his supporters of inciting violence to overthrow the administration and warned their campaign would end in "grief".
"Those who incite violence, or actually cause and participate in unleashing it, are set to pay a very heavy price, regardless of who they are," Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said in the statement.
"He has just had a brain scan because his skull is cracked," spokesman William Bango said from Mr Tsvangirai's Harare hospital, adding that the opposition leader had also needed blood transfusions. "He will be here for some time," Bango said.
Doctors at the Harare Avenues Clinic have not issued any reports on his health and nursing staff say they do not discuss the condition of individual patients.
Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leaves the Harare Magistrate's Court for medical attention
Zimbabwe prosecutors had earlier failed to appear for an expected court appearance by Mr Tsvangirai and dozens of others arrested on Sunday for defying a ban on protests against President Robert Mugabe's government.
"The prosecutors are not here, so we are going and they may have to proceed by way of summons," one of Mr Tsvangirai's lawyers, Alec Muchadehama, told reporters outside the court.
Senior prosecutor Joseph Jagada said police had to complete paperwork before the case could proceed.
Lawyers earlier said Mr Tsvangirai, who heads the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had been released from police custody but remained in hospital along with 30 other opposition figures allegedly beaten after their arrest on Sunday. Another 19 accused were freed and went home, lawyers said.
Mr Tsvangirai was taken to hospital with a deep head wound yesterday soon after arriving at court. His condition and that of other opposition supporters fuelled world condemnation over the crackdown on political protests by Mr Mugabe's government.
The United States described the police action as "ruthless and repressive" and
said it was looking at what additional sanctions it might impose. South Africa, which normally avoids direct comment on Zimbabwe's woes, called on Mr Mugabe's government to respect the rule of law.
Sunday's arrests, which occurred as Mr Tsvangirai and other opposition supporters attempted to attend a prayer vigil, came as Zimbabwe faced a deepening economic crisis with inflation at more than 1,700 per cent, unemployment of 80 per cent and frequent shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange.
Zimbabwe's state media has not covered accusations that Tsvangirai and his colleagues were assaulted in custody, but has blamed the opposition for a wave of violence.
Zimbabwe's political tensions have mounted in recent weeks because of plans by Mr Mugabe, now 83 and the country's sole ruler since independence from Britain in 1980, to further extend his rule. Mr Mugabe originally proposed adjusting election dates to extend his current term by two years to 2010, and then said that if necessary he would be willing to stand in elections in 2008 - meaning he could remain in office through 2014.