Mugabe, 92, is facing increasing demonstrations against his dictatorship but has been crushing protests by ordering police to use violence.
Hundreds of people have been injured as officers use batons, tear gas and fists to stop protests.
Pastor Evan Mawarire started the movement with his 'This Flag' campaign which calls on Mugabe to resign.
In July he was arrested but after mass protests outside court he was released. Sources suggest he was told he must leave the country or he would be killed. He's since fled to South Africa and is in hiding. Premier understands he is trying to go to the US.
Speaking in a new interview he has warned he will not give up his campaign to oust Mugabe and his Zanu PF party. "I don't want to be another martyr", he stressed.
"I want to help rebuild my country," he said in an interview with The Times. Despite calls for him to be the next president he insists he has no political ambitions.
"I have thought about it deeply, but I must exhaust my role as a citizen first. Right now I am terrified for my life and lives of my family.
"We have lost enough people in Zimbabwe."
He warned that unless Mugabe leaves office and stops the brutal crackdown on protesters the country will descend into civil war.
"The only way a civil war will happen is if the government keeps up its tactic of kidnapping and torturing people".
