Three young opposition activists in Zimbabwe who said they had been abducted and sexually assaulted faced charges on Friday of lying about their treatment as the government claims their allegations are part of a plot to destabilise the country.

Their case has become the latest flashpoint in Zimbabwe, with a group of United Nations experts this week speaking out against a “reported pattern of disappearances and torture” by government agents in the southern African nation.

The women already faced charges of contravening Zimbabwe’s coronavirus lockdown.

Magistrate Bianca Makwande said she will rule on the bail application on Monday, meaning the women will spend the weekend in remand prison.

The women alleged their abductors took them from a police station in May after they were arrested for organising an anti-government protest.