Opposition to Mugabe’s strong-arm tactics increase last week as the state dropped corruption charges against Energy Minister Elton Mangoma and altered the charge-sheet against group of human rights activists initially charged in February with treason for allegedly watching videos of pro-democracy rallies in Egypt and Tunisia.
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, a global movement of civil society dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society across the world, accused Mugabe of using the legal system to undermine democratic processes in Zimbabwe.
It urged the Zimbabwean authorities to unconditionally drop all charges against the six rights activists who were arrested on 19 February for allegedly plotting Egypt-style protests against Mugabe.
The six, who include former legislator Munyaradzi Gwisai, were supposed to stand trial in the Harare Magistrates Court last Monday but the State suddenly altered the treason charge to a lesser one of conspiring to commit public violence and had their case postponed to 22 August.
"The subjection of the activists to protracted, inconsistent and unclear legal processes constitutes a flagrant violation of their basic rights as citizens of Zimbabwe. How can a government charge its citizens with treason, subversion and now with conspiracy to promote public violence for simply watching videos of uprisings in other countries?" said Netsanet Belay, director of policy and research at CIVICUS.
The six were part of a group of 46 human rights activists, trade unionists and student leaders initially charged with treason for the same offence. The other 40 were released on 7 March and their charges dropped.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, an umbrella body of local democracy and human rights groups, also called for the immediate and unconditional release of the activists and the withdrawal of all charges against them.
"The spurious charges levelled against the six activists are a gross form of abuse of the law; it is persecution through prosecution which must cease forthwith," said Dewa Mavhinga, regional coordinator for Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Mugabe has arrested scores of supporters of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and pro-democracy groups since the end of 2010 when his Zanu (PF) party announced plans to hold elections this year.
Post published in: News