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Zimbabweans Sentenced for Watching New Reports
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Dan Clore
Mar 30, 2012, 1:37:12 AM3/30/12
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News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/world/africa/zimbabwean-activists-sentenced-for-arab-uprising-forum.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share
March 21, 2012
In Zimbabwe, Sentenced for Watching News Reports
By LYDIA POLGREEN
JOHANNESBURG — A court in Zimbabwe decided not to imprison six activists
who had been arrested while watching news videos of the Arab Spring
uprisings, sentencing them instead on Wednesday to 420 hours of
community service and fining them $500 each.
The activists became something of a cause célèbre in Zimbabwe, where
repression is nothing new but the spectacle of a university teacher
being arrested for watching news coverage and holding what was, he said,
a seminar on political activism and democracy, shocked many Zimbabweans.
Munyaradzi Gwisai, a law lecturer at Zimbabwe’s main university and a
former member of Parliament for the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, and five other activists were sentenced to two years in jail,
but the sentence was suspended for five years. Nevertheless, the
activists plan to appeal their conviction, Mr. Gwisai said.
The prosecutor had asked for the maximum sentence — 10 years — arguing
that the group had been plotting an uprising similar to those that
toppled the longtime presidents in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen against
Zimbabwe’s autocratic president, Robert Mugabe, who has been in power
for 30 years.
But the judge, Kudakwashe Jarabini, said in his Harare courtroom on
Wednesday that he had decided to take a “compassionate approach,” The
Associated Press reported, and did not want a harsh sentence to give a
“sense of shock” to Zimbabwe’s people.
In a telephone interview from Harare, Mr. Gwisai said the sentence
showed that the government was vulnerable to pressure, both from its own
citizens and from abroad.
“We are obviously very happy that we have not been incarcerated, and it
shows that the regime has backed down in the face of mobilization,” he said.
The activists were convicted as Mr. Mugabe pushed hard for new
elections, hoping to return to power on his own after being pushed into
a power-sharing agreement with the M.D.C. in the wake of a violent
election in 2008. Morgan Tsvangirai, the candidate of the M.D.C., won
the most votes, but withdrew from the runoff because of attacks on his
supporters. An estimated 350 people died in election violence that year.
International pressure produced an uneasy arrangement between Mr.
Mugabe, who remains president, and Mr. Tsvangirai, who was named prime
minister.
Mr. Gwisai said he hoped that the sentence would embolden others to
stand against repression.
“What we are seeing is that it is giving confidence to many groups and
many activists,” he said. “We are not going to stop the general struggle
against authoritarianism in the country.”
--
Dan Clore
New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
http://tinyurl.com/yd3bxkw
My collected fiction, _The Unspeakable and Others_:
http://tinyurl.com/3tyj9cq
Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Strange pleasures are known to him who flaunts the
immarcescible purple of poetry before the color-blind.
-- Clark Ashton Smith, "Epigrams and Apothegms"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/world/africa/zimbabwean-activists-sentenced-for-arab-uprising-forum.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share
March 21, 2012
In Zimbabwe, Sentenced for Watching News Reports
By LYDIA POLGREEN
JOHANNESBURG — A court in Zimbabwe decided not to imprison six activists
who had been arrested while watching news videos of the Arab Spring
uprisings, sentencing them instead on Wednesday to 420 hours of
community service and fining them $500 each.
The activists became something of a cause célèbre in Zimbabwe, where
repression is nothing new but the spectacle of a university teacher
being arrested for watching news coverage and holding what was, he said,
a seminar on political activism and democracy, shocked many Zimbabweans.
Munyaradzi Gwisai, a law lecturer at Zimbabwe’s main university and a
former member of Parliament for the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, and five other activists were sentenced to two years in jail,
but the sentence was suspended for five years. Nevertheless, the
activists plan to appeal their conviction, Mr. Gwisai said.
The prosecutor had asked for the maximum sentence — 10 years — arguing
that the group had been plotting an uprising similar to those that
toppled the longtime presidents in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen against
Zimbabwe’s autocratic president, Robert Mugabe, who has been in power
for 30 years.
But the judge, Kudakwashe Jarabini, said in his Harare courtroom on
Wednesday that he had decided to take a “compassionate approach,” The
Associated Press reported, and did not want a harsh sentence to give a
“sense of shock” to Zimbabwe’s people.
In a telephone interview from Harare, Mr. Gwisai said the sentence
showed that the government was vulnerable to pressure, both from its own
citizens and from abroad.
“We are obviously very happy that we have not been incarcerated, and it
shows that the regime has backed down in the face of mobilization,” he said.
The activists were convicted as Mr. Mugabe pushed hard for new
elections, hoping to return to power on his own after being pushed into
a power-sharing agreement with the M.D.C. in the wake of a violent
election in 2008. Morgan Tsvangirai, the candidate of the M.D.C., won
the most votes, but withdrew from the runoff because of attacks on his
supporters. An estimated 350 people died in election violence that year.
International pressure produced an uneasy arrangement between Mr.
Mugabe, who remains president, and Mr. Tsvangirai, who was named prime
minister.
Mr. Gwisai said he hoped that the sentence would embolden others to
stand against repression.
“What we are seeing is that it is giving confidence to many groups and
many activists,” he said. “We are not going to stop the general struggle
against authoritarianism in the country.”
--
Dan Clore
New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
http://tinyurl.com/yd3bxkw
My collected fiction, _The Unspeakable and Others_:
http://tinyurl.com/3tyj9cq
Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Strange pleasures are known to him who flaunts the
immarcescible purple of poetry before the color-blind.
-- Clark Ashton Smith, "Epigrams and Apothegms"
Dan Clore
Mar 30, 2012, 1:38:12 AM3/30/12
to
http://socialistworker.org/2012/03/22/activism-sways-a-zimbabwe-court
Activism sways a Zimbabwe court
Nicole Colson reports on the case of six pro-democracy activists in
Zimbabwe found guilty on trumped-up charges, but given suspended sentences.
March 22, 2012
THE GUILTY verdict handed down this week against six Zimbabwean
activists outraged their supporters around the globe--but relatively
lenient sentencing suggests that international protest had an impact
even under Robert Mugabe's dictatorship.
The six activists were part of a group of 45 people arrested more than a
year ago in the capital city of Harare after a meeting in which they
reportedly showed a video of the mass protests taking place against
dictatorship in Egypt and Tunisia.
Initially, the activists faced charges of treason and "subverting a
constitutionally elected government"--punishable by a possible death
sentence. Many also faced torture and horrific beatings during their
initial detention.
After international protests, all but six were eventually released, with
the state accusing this group of attempting to foment an uprising
against the brutal decades-long regime of Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe. They were eventually released on bail, but forced to stand trial.
The Mugabe government, which has been engaged in a crackdown against
opposition activists in the run-up to anticipated elections this year
would have been happy to see the six activists--Munyaradzi Gwisai
(general coordinator of the International Socialist
Organization-Zimbabwe), Tafadzwa Antonater Choto, Hopewell Gumbo (former
president of the Zimbabwe National Students Union), Welcome Zimuto (of
the Zimbabwe National Students Union), Tatenda Mombeyara (of the
Zimbabwe Labor Center) and Edson Chakuma (of the United Food and Allied
Workers Union)--rot in prison for the maximum sentence of 10 years.
Calling the conviction a setback for freedom of expression in Zimbabwe,
Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International's director for Africa, said
in a statement:
The court's decision to convict people who were merely exercising
their internationally guaranteed right to freedom of expression is
simply shocking. It's a reminder that Zimbabwe is still an unsafe place
for activists. This ruling instills fear in anyone defending human
rights in Zimbabwe. It is likely to restrict the work of activists in
the country, and the convictions should be overturned immediately.
Prosecutor Edmore Nyazambahad argued that the activists should receive
the maximum sentence, saying that in Biblical times, they would have
been stoned to death.
Comparing Mugabe to the biblical figure of Moses, Nyazamba stated in
court, "This case reminds me of that in the Bible, whereby those who
revolted against authority were swallowed up when the ground opened up.
Their families, including their cats and dogs, were not spared." He
continued: "They will repeat the same offence and fine-tune the plan
until their motive of toppling the government is fulfilled."
However, international pressure mounted by supporters of the Zimbabwean
activists seems to have forced the court to deliver a lesser sentence,
including a two-year jail sentence that was suspended on the condition
that no similar "crime" is committed in the next five years, 420 hours
of community service and a $500 fine.
Any sentence at all is, like the guilty verdict, an injustice. But this
is much less than supporters of the six feared.
The sentence was handed down on March 21, the day after activists and
unionists rallied and picketed outside of Zimbabwean embassies and
missions in Johannesburg, New York City, London, Melbourne, Vienna and
Toronto.
In Harare itself, in spite of the regime's record of repression,
hundreds of supporters turned out for the sentencing, sending a clear
message of solidarity and support.
As long as these activists are unable to exercise their democratic right
to dissent against the Mugabe government, the struggle will not be over.
--
Dan Clore
New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
http://tinyurl.com/yd3bxkw
My collected fiction, _The Unspeakable and Others_:
http://tinyurl.com/3tyj9cq
Lord We˙rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
Activism sways a Zimbabwe court
Nicole Colson reports on the case of six pro-democracy activists in
Zimbabwe found guilty on trumped-up charges, but given suspended sentences.
March 22, 2012
THE GUILTY verdict handed down this week against six Zimbabwean
activists outraged their supporters around the globe--but relatively
lenient sentencing suggests that international protest had an impact
even under Robert Mugabe's dictatorship.
The six activists were part of a group of 45 people arrested more than a
year ago in the capital city of Harare after a meeting in which they
reportedly showed a video of the mass protests taking place against
dictatorship in Egypt and Tunisia.
Initially, the activists faced charges of treason and "subverting a
constitutionally elected government"--punishable by a possible death
sentence. Many also faced torture and horrific beatings during their
initial detention.
After international protests, all but six were eventually released, with
the state accusing this group of attempting to foment an uprising
against the brutal decades-long regime of Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe. They were eventually released on bail, but forced to stand trial.
The Mugabe government, which has been engaged in a crackdown against
opposition activists in the run-up to anticipated elections this year
would have been happy to see the six activists--Munyaradzi Gwisai
(general coordinator of the International Socialist
Organization-Zimbabwe), Tafadzwa Antonater Choto, Hopewell Gumbo (former
president of the Zimbabwe National Students Union), Welcome Zimuto (of
the Zimbabwe National Students Union), Tatenda Mombeyara (of the
Zimbabwe Labor Center) and Edson Chakuma (of the United Food and Allied
Workers Union)--rot in prison for the maximum sentence of 10 years.
Calling the conviction a setback for freedom of expression in Zimbabwe,
Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International's director for Africa, said
in a statement:
The court's decision to convict people who were merely exercising
their internationally guaranteed right to freedom of expression is
simply shocking. It's a reminder that Zimbabwe is still an unsafe place
for activists. This ruling instills fear in anyone defending human
rights in Zimbabwe. It is likely to restrict the work of activists in
the country, and the convictions should be overturned immediately.
Prosecutor Edmore Nyazambahad argued that the activists should receive
the maximum sentence, saying that in Biblical times, they would have
been stoned to death.
Comparing Mugabe to the biblical figure of Moses, Nyazamba stated in
court, "This case reminds me of that in the Bible, whereby those who
revolted against authority were swallowed up when the ground opened up.
Their families, including their cats and dogs, were not spared." He
continued: "They will repeat the same offence and fine-tune the plan
until their motive of toppling the government is fulfilled."
However, international pressure mounted by supporters of the Zimbabwean
activists seems to have forced the court to deliver a lesser sentence,
including a two-year jail sentence that was suspended on the condition
that no similar "crime" is committed in the next five years, 420 hours
of community service and a $500 fine.
Any sentence at all is, like the guilty verdict, an injustice. But this
is much less than supporters of the six feared.
The sentence was handed down on March 21, the day after activists and
unionists rallied and picketed outside of Zimbabwean embassies and
missions in Johannesburg, New York City, London, Melbourne, Vienna and
Toronto.
In Harare itself, in spite of the regime's record of repression,
hundreds of supporters turned out for the sentencing, sending a clear
message of solidarity and support.
As long as these activists are unable to exercise their democratic right
to dissent against the Mugabe government, the struggle will not be over.
--
Dan Clore
New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
http://tinyurl.com/yd3bxkw
My collected fiction, _The Unspeakable and Others_:
http://tinyurl.com/3tyj9cq
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