Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has acknowledged that the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, had been assaulted, but said he deserved it. "Yes, I told them he was beaten but he asked for it," Mugabe told supporters the day after returning from a regional summit in Tanzania. "We got full backing, not even one criticized our actions," the president continued. "There is no country in SADC (the Southern African Development Community) that can stand up and say Zimbabwe has faulted. SADC does not do that, it is not a court but an organization of 14 countries that cooperate with each other and support each other." On March 11, Tsvangirai was arrested on his way to a prayer rally in the Harare township of Highfield. His wife was allowed to see him in prison, after which she reported that he had been heavily tortured by police, resulting in deep gashes on his head and a badly swollen eye. Secretary-General of the MDC, Tendai Biti, said Tsvangirai suffered a cracked skull and "must have passed out at least three times." On March 28, Zimbabwean police stormed Tsvangirai's office and once again arrested him, hours before he was to speak with the media about recent political violence in the country.