Tsitsi Dangarembga Wins Appeal Against Inciting Violence Conviction
Renowned Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga on Monday 08 May, won an appeal against her conviction for incitement to public violence.
Dangarembga was found guilty of the charge by a magistrate in September 2022 following her arrest for staging a silent protest in Harare and holding up a sign calling for reforms.
The award-winning author and filmmaker was given a ZWL$70 000 Zimbabwean dollar fine and a six-month suspended sentence.
The High Court in Harare on Monday overturned the verdict saying it was erroneously reached.
The judge said the full reasoning behind the decision would be released at a later stage.
Speaking to AFP after the ruling, Dangarembga said the verdict by the High Court “shows respect for the law of Zimbabwe,” describing her initial conviction as a “blatant miscarriage of justice.”
The Constitution of Zimbabwe, which was adopted in 2013, includes provisions protecting the rights to freedom of assembly and association, as well as the right to demonstrate peacefully.
These rights are enshrined in Section 58 of the Constitution, which states that “every person has the right to freedom of assembly and association, and the right not to assemble or associate with others.”
Additionally, Section 59 explicitly protects the right to demonstrate and petition peacefully.
The 64-year-old was arrested in July 2020 as she walked the empty streets of Harare during the coronavirus lockdown with a friend, journalist Julie Barnes, and a few other friends.
Dangarembga held a placard reading, “We want better – reform our institutions”.
She also wore a sign on her back calling for the release of a prominent journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, who had previously been arrested on similar charges of inciting violence.
Prosecutors alleged the demonstration had not been authorised and was aimed at inciting violence.
But Dangarembga argued that she spoke to no one during the walk.
Barnes, who was jointly charged with Dangarembga, was also acquitted on appeal.
Chris Mhike and Harrison Nkomo of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) got the convictions and sentence overturned by High Court Judges Justice Happias Zhou and Justice Benjamin Chikowero.
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