The eight policemen, who had earlier Friday been suspended from active duty and disarmed by the country's police commissioner, will appear in the Daveyton Magistrate's Court on Monday, said Moses Dlamini, a spokesman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, a government arm that investigates potential criminal offenses by police.

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Surrounded by police, and shouted at by the crowd, Mr Rana was led into court wearing protective clothing, to hear a magistrate grant a police request to hold him for 15 days for questioning.

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Swift action by the Kenyan police in apprehending the men had averted mayhem and a massive number of deaths, the court magistrate said.

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The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says that two of those charged, including government minister Goodall Gondwe, were not in the magistrate's court to hear the charges as they are in hospital after collapsing in police cells.

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