Six Zimbabwean activists arrested a year ago were found guilty by a court in Harare on Monday of inciting public violence. On March, 21st, they were fined USD 500 each and ordered to perform 420 hours of community service, on top of a two-year sentence, suspended for five years.
The six include Munyaradzi Gwisai, a Zimbabwean legal expert and former MP belonging to the party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Together with the other five convicted, he was arrested in February 2011, after organizing a discussion focusing on the uprising in Egypt and Tunisia; in particular what Zimbabwe could learn from it, which also contained watching a video of the mass protests.
Altogether 45 people were arrested, as they were suspected to take the Arabic spring as model for similar activities against the regime of Robert Mugabe. "The accused are found guilty as charged”, declared the magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini two days before. Due to his opinion, the fact the accused were watching video material, containing potentially dangerous messages could serve as sufficient evidence.
The court ruling was preceded by a turbulent trial. During the course of the court process, the charges against 39 of the defendants were withdrawn, as well as the indictment of high treason against all. In the end, baton-armed police officers had to guard the entrance to the Harare magistrate court as the verdict was read out, fearing riots.
Even though the decision does not provide a custodial sentence, as claimed by the prosecution, and the convicts have already been cleared, the judgment has evoked outrage. In its statement,
the Movement for Democratic Change of Prime Minister Tsvagirai named it "another assault on democracy and human rights.” It was “strange and barbaric”, that they were convicted of watching video material that is already in the public domain and can be accessed by anyone from anywhere in the world.
Already during the hearing, Gwisai, named the charges "meaningless," "outright silly" and "a case of political harassment by the state”. However, he made clear: “We are not deterred, we are not intimidated.” “To the ordinary people, this is not surprising”, he added. “This is a staple of what is happening in Africa and across the world. So we take it as it comes, the struggle continues.” In the following days, he and his co-convicts intend to appeal the judgment.