Zimbabwe: Students Arrested For Peaceful Protest
Zimbabwe continues its suppression of dissent unabated, escalating the attacks and harassment ahead of the elections that have been scheduled for 23 August 2023. The right to freedom of expression has been severely and almost entirely suppressed, resulting in arrests and/or unnecessary and excessive use of force by security forces. The members of the opposition are not receiving clearance from the police and when they do, they at times end in violent attacks by the members of the ruling Zanu PF.
The six students are not the only ones to be persecuted for protesting in Zimbabwe. The trio, Cecillia Chimbiri, Joanah Mamombe and Netsai Marova, all belonging to the opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), were arrested in May 2020 at a police roadblock in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, for leading an anti-government protest over the authorities’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic and widespread hunger in the country. On the same day, they were forcibly disappeared from police custody. Cecillia and Joanah were acquitted for ‘publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state’ charge after spending over two years in and out of court after the state accused them of faking their abduction.
In 2022, Tsitsi Dangarembga, a Zimbabwean author and activist, and activist Julie Barnes were each convicted and later won the appeal, for “inciting violence” and handed a six-month suspended sentence for participating in protests on 31 July 2020.
On 5 April 2023, CCC national spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere was convicted and fined US$ 500 for “publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state” for posting a video on Twitter alleging that a police officer had killed a baby, even though the law under which she was convicted does not exist.
On 28 April 2023, Jacob Ngarivhume was convicted and sentenced to 48 months in prison, with 12 months suspended, on charges of inciting violence simply for exercising his right to freedom of expression. He had been arrested, and later charged, after leading and organizing anti-corruption protests on 31 July 2020.
Some of these sentences have been overturned by the High Court of Zimbabwe., However, the authorities still achieve their goal of delivering a message on what happens to critics of government, activists and the opposition
The students were protesting the prolonged incarceration of Job Sikhala, who was arrested in June 2022, along with Godfrey Sithole and 14 other activists while attending a funeral of a political activist who was killed allegedly by a member of the ruling ZANU PF party. 0n 3 May 2023, Job Sikhala was convicted on charges of obstruction of justice and sentenced to a wholly suspended six months sentence with an option of paying US$ 600, almost a year since his arrest. Job Sikhala remains in custody, as he awaits trial for two other charges of incitement to commit violence and disorderly conduct.