Other church members were also briefly detained; police reportedly hit Balaev's wife on the face and may have assaulted another female member.
Eventually, police reportedly stopped a group of students and assaulted them.
The police have broken up Safina meetings and assaulted members.
The witnesses said the police assaulted several students.
Before dawn, there were more than 50 injuries, 9 arrests and 121 complaints that the police had assaulted people.
On 11 January 2003 the national police assaulted and arrested Mudzuri while he met with Harare residents.
While police assaulted some demonstrators during this first demonstration, it was the demonstration on 24 July that was the most volatile.
When they were allowed to return home hours later, police reportedly stopped a group of students and assaulted them.
Attempting to disperse the crowds, police conducted many arrests and assaulted protesters.
The court heard testimony that the police had assaulted and coaxed a state witness into giving perjured evidence.