Ten people were arrested today after staging a sit-in at Zimbabwe's embassy in London over a crackdown on the opposition by President Robert Mugabe.
Police said seven men and three women were detained for "trespassing on diplomatic premises".
Mary Kasirowore, a member of the UK executive committee for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said the group organised the demonstration to protest against "recent events" in Zimbabwe.
The leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, Morgan Tsvangirai, leaves court in Harare after being arrested at an anti-government rally earlier this month. He was later treated for a cracked skull.
"It's a peaceful protest," she said. "Contrary to what Mugabe wants the world to believe about the MDC, it's a peaceful organisation."
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and dozens of activists say they were beaten after defying a ban on rallies earlier this month. Pictures of Mr Tsvangirai's battered face have prompted international condemnation of Mr Mugabe's government.
The MDC have alleged a police purge is continuing in its urban strongholds, with at least 35 of its supporters needing hospital treatment after beatings by ruling party youth league members and state agents patrolling townships in unmarked vehicles.
"Similar stories are coming in from centres all over the country. All the injured are being dealt with in private hospitals as all state hospitals are instructed not to take in MDC activists, no matter what their injuries," it said in a statement today.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions said seven labour activists were arrested for distributing leaflets about the union's planned strike on April 3rd and 4th.
The latest clampdown followed a speech by President Robert Mugabe on Friday to youth leaders urging them to "get prepared for a fight" and warning opposition activists if violence continued they would again be "bashed".
A fiercely pro-Mugabe columnist in the state Herald,a government mouthpiece, also warned activists that angry police and troops were ready to violently curb their activities.
"Woe betide the unfortunate back on whom the blows will land," said the columnist - Mr Mugabe's chief spokesman George Charamba - writing under the pen name of Nathaniel Manheru.
As the propaganda war heated up, the government continued to blame its opponents for the violence.
Police said Mr Tsvangirai was injured on March 11th after resisting arrest for inciting violence. But his aides recounted he was arrested at the local police station where he had gone to find colleagues picked up from a convoy of cars heading across rough ground toward a prayer meeting after police barricaded approach roads.
Mr Tsvangirai continued to recuperate at his Harare home yesterday from head injuries, hand fractures and severe body bruising. He has accused police of forcing him to lie face down while he was beaten with riot sticks, iron bars and clubs.
Agencies