Job Sikhala’s Application For Release Dismissed Again, Amnesty International Reacts
Job Sikhala‘s application for release was denied once again this Friday, which means he will remain in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. The trial will resume on 20 November 2023.
Sikhala, a member of the opposition group Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and a former Member of Parliament, has been in prison since June 2022 for allegedly inciting public violence. He is being represented by Jeremiah Bamu and Harrison Nkomo from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).
Some Context:
Sikhala, who has been in prison for over a year, was arrested on 14 June 2022 by ZRP officers. He was charged with incitement to commit public violence, as defined in section 187(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
According to prosecutors, Sikhala allegedly recorded and shared a video in which he encouraged people to engage in acts of public violence as a response to the death of Moreblessing Ali, who had been missing for three weeks before being found murdered and mutilated on 11 June 2022 in the Nyatsime area of Beatrice.
The prosecution claims that Sikhala provided vehicles that transported supporters of the CCC party from Chitungwiza and Epworth to Nyatsime. It is alleged that these supporters then attacked ZANU PF party supporters, damaged shops and beer halls, looted groceries and electrical gadgets, and even set fire to a one-roomed house owned by George Murambatsvina, the ZANU PF party Councillor for Nyatsime.
Sikhala says he did not commit the alleged crimes and denies the charges brought against him. He believes that he is being treated as a political prisoner because he has spoken out against the authoritarian rule of the ruling ZANU PF party. Despite his pleas, he has been denied bail multiple times, meaning he has been unable to secure his release from prison.
Responding to the continued detention of Job Sikhala, who has spent 500 days in pretrial detention, Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa, said:
Job Sikhala’s prolonged detention while he awaits trial is a gross miscarriage of justice and an indictment of Zimbabwe’s judicial system. It exemplifies how authorities are abusing the courts to silence opposition leaders, human rights defenders, activists, journalists and other critical dissenting voices.
Job Sikhala’s prolonged detention while he awaits trial is a gross miscarriage of justice and an indictment of Zimbabwe’s judicial system. It exemplifies how authorities are abusing the courts to silence opposition leaders, human rights defenders, activists, journalists and other critical dissenting voices
Khanyo Farisè has called on the authorities to stop using the law to target opposition figures and ordinary citizens. Farisè emphasises that activists and human rights defenders should not be harassed or intimidated through the courts. Everyone should have the freedom to express themselves without fear of retaliation, Farisè added.
Farisè states that the right to a fair trial is a fundamental human right recognised globally, and the authorities in Zimbabwe should respect it. Amnesty International says that the charges against Sikhala are politically motivated and solely based on his peaceful exercise of human rights. The human rights watchdog says authorities have also not shown the necessity of keeping him in detention while awaiting trial. Amnesty International calls for his immediate and unconditional release. They urge the international community to strongly condemn the ongoing harassment against him.
The State claims to have strong evidence that proves Sikhala is guilty of the crime he is accused of. They argue against granting him bail because they believe he has a history of not obeying his bail conditions in the past. The State thinks that if he is granted bail again, there is a high chance that he will break the conditions once more.
