One of Zimbabwe’s most vocal opposition politicians, Fadzayi Mahere, has narrowly avoided a prison sentence after being convicted of “communicating falsehoods” in 2021.
The verdict has stoked fears of a brutal state clampdown on freedom of expression before this summer’s general election.
Mahere, the firebrand spokesperson for the main opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), and one of the country’s leading politicians, faced up to 20 years in prison. She was fined US$500 (£400).
Handing down the judgment on Wednesday, a Harare magistrate said Mahere was a first offender and deserved a lighter sentence. “I am not going to send you to prison because your moral blameworthiness is not too high,” the magistrate said in handing down the sentence.
State prosecutors told the court that Mahere posted a video on Twitter of a woman with a baby strapped to her back being beaten by a police officer with a truncheon in 2021. In the post, Mahere claimed the baby had killed in the incident but police later confirmed the child had not died.
During cross-examination, prosecutors had pushed for a custodial sentence. “A file for community service will trivialise the case,” the court heard.
Inside court, Mahere’s mother sobbed quietly after the magistrate delivered the ruling.
Her conviction comes ahead of a crucial presidential election that pits the CCC against the ruling Zanu-PF, which has been in power since independence in 1980.
Outside court, a defiant Mahere said citizens had the right to freedom of expression. “As citizens who are desirous of change, who are hopeful about a new Zimbabwe, that courage to speak in line with what the constitution permits should never be taken away,” she said.
“Regardless of what transpired today, I remain bound with what the constitution provides and that is to speak freely,” Mahere told reporters outside Harare magistrates court.
Hopewell Chin’ono, a prominent journalist and freedom of expression campaigner, described Mahere’s conviction as “tragic”. A similar charge against Chin’ono was thrown out by the high court last year as it was based on what he called a “nonexistent” law.
Chin’ono said on Twitter: “This is so tragic for the country to have someone convicted with a law that doesn’t exist. I was arrested in January 2021 using the same facts in Fadzayi’s case, and the high court threw out the case unopposed on the basis that the law doesn’t exist. Zimbabwe, oh my Zimbabwe.”
Evan Mawarire, a cleric and political activist who has been arrested several times in Zimbabwe, tweeted: “The arrest, trial and conviction of opposition politician Fadzai [sic] Mahere by the Zimbabwean government has been a total sham and farce.
“She did not commit a crime and this is nothing but persecution for her sterling work in challenging the dictatorship,” he said.
Mahere has been the subject of repeated government attacks for speaking out against corruption. In 2020, she was arrested for staging a one-woman demonstration against rising corruption.
At that time, other campaigners, including the Booker prize-shortlisted writer Tsitsi Dangarembga, were also arrested. Dangarembga was convicted of “promoting public violence” last September for joining a peaceful anti-government demonstration.
Political commentators accuse the ruling party of using the courts to intimidate the opposition, which is widely viewed as a real threat to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s grip on power.
In January police raided a CCC meeting at a private home in Budiriro township, 11 miles (18km) from the capital, Harare, and arrested 25 activists for holding a political gathering.
Another leading opposition figure, Job Sikhala, has been in prison on charges of inciting violence and obstructing the course of justice for more than 200 days, with his trial constantly being delayed.
The CCC leader, Nelson Chamisa, will again face Mnangagwa in the presidential election, which comes amid growing anger over the ailing economy and rising unemployment.