A Zimbabwe court said on Wednesday it took a “compassionate approach” by not sending to jail six civic activists convicted of conspiring to commit public violence during a meeting in which they watched video footage of the mass uprisings in Egypt.
Harare magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini fined the activists US$500 each and ordered them to carry out 420 hours of community service or face a year in jail. He suspended another 12 months imprisonment on condition they do not commit a similar offense over the next five years.
In an apparent bid to head off intense local and international outrage over the case — along with frequent accusations of bias by the nation’s courts in favor of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe — Jarabini said he sought to pass a deterrent sentence, but did not want to send out “a sense of shock” to the public.
Photo: Reuters
The group was arrested last year for holding a meeting that it said was an academic lecture on democratic rights.
Jarabini found the activists guilty on Monday, saying that while watching a video was not a crime, the “manner and motive” of the meeting in February last year showed bad intent. He ruled that showing footage of uprisings in both Tunisia and Egypt that included “nasty scenarios” was intended to arouse hostility toward the Zimbabwean government.
The activists had faced a maximum prison sentence of up to 10 years. Original charges of treason carrying a possible death sentence were dropped in months of legal wrangling.
Jarabini said he took note that the activists were arrested before any violence had taken place. They had watched the North African footage at a time the nation’s political environment was “conducive to easily inciting a riot.”
Police had arrested 45 people who attended the meeting at a Harare hotel, but 39 were later released after judicial officials said police mounted a “dragnet” campaign against alleged participants.
Munyaradzi Gwisai, a law lecturer at the main Zimbabwe university who convened the meeting, said after receiving his sentence on Wednesday he was not cowed by the actions of authorities loyal to Mugabe.
“The dictatorship is shaken, but it has not yet fallen. The struggle will continue. It is a temporary reprieve,” he said. “The real reason they wanted to put us in jail is to set an example ahead of their agenda to steal elections.”
Though Mugabe entered in a power-sharing deal with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai after disputed, violence-plagued elections in 2008, Mugabe has said he has the power to unilaterally call elections this year to end the almost paralyzed coalition government.
Security authorities have said they will clamp down on any alleged plotters of “destabilization.”
Riot police dispersed scores of supporters chanting and singing outside the Harare courthouse after the sentence was handed down.
In a later statement, the Crisis Coalition of democracy and human rights activists described the case as a serious indictment of Zimbabwe’s judicial system.
At least 200 people died in election violence in 2008 with little action taken by police.
“Yet on political grounds, six individuals are found guilty of watching a video,” it said, adding that it was “mind boggling” state prosecutors had called for the maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Tsvangirai also said on Wednesday “laughable” actions by authorities hurt the nation’s image.
“The conviction is a grave assault on human rights” by the government, he said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of