HARARE – Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) faction leader Jameson Timba has been convicted together with 34 party activists jointly accused of participating in an unlawful gathering.
The veteran politician and 78 others were arrested June 16 this year in a police raid at his home in the quiet neighbourhood of Avondale, Harare.
The activists argued they were in a private space commemorating the Day of the African Child, a calendar event of the African Union, but prosecutors insisted the gathering was illegal.
What followed were five months of remand imprisonment which has been widely condemned by many including a British lawmaker in the House of Lords.
They were convicted on Friday by a Harare magistrate while 28 others who were part of the group were acquitted.
The activists face up to five years in prison or a fine.
Sentencing is set for next week, said Webster Jiti, one of the activists’ lawyers.
The Zanu PF led government has led a tough hand on opposition gatherings with activists subjected to many months of pre-trial detention for the alleged offences.
The opposition CCC accuse Zimbabwean rulers of stifling freedom of assemble and manipulating courts to hand tough decisions against opposition activists and government critics against the cardinal doctrine of separation of powers.
The government denies the claims.
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