The opposition party in Zimbabwe, MDC expressed shock and disgust by the arrests of five church leaders by the police last Friday for allegedly working with the opposition, under the auspices of Christian Alliance. Those arrested were Bishop Levee Kadenge of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, Reverend Ancelimo Magaya and his wife Daphne, Reverend Brian Mugwadi and Pius Wakatama, also a member of the Christian Alliance’s publicity section. The MDC condemned the "sordid and immoral behaviour that has been exhibited by the police", saying it was a sad development. "While we do not doubt that these are intimidatory tactics that have been hatched by the Mugabe regime to cow those perceived to be opponents of the ZANU PF government, we do not expect state institution such as the police to obey orders of this nature", said Gabriel Chaibva, secretary for information and publicity of MDC. "This country needs the spiritual, economic, social and political support to take it out of the crisis and church leaders should instead be congratulated for their initiative in trying to find a solution to the crisis", he added.