Mugabe atembeza panga kwa wapinzani

[Askari Kanzu]

*Walifumwa wakiwa wanaangalia video kuhusu "kifukwe cha kiarabu" (Arab Spring)
*Wapatikana na hatia ya kula njama za kumpindua Mugabe
*Wanaweza kuswekwa lupango kwa miaka kumi

6 Convicted for Watching Arab Spring News in Zimbabwe

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/Associated Press

Munyaradzi Gwisai, a political activist and former member of Parliament for Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, left court in Harare on Monday after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the government.

By LYDIA POLGREEN

Published: March 19, 2012

JOHANNESBURG — Six political activists in Zimbabwe who gathered last year to watch and discuss television news broadcasts of the Arab Spring protests were convicted on Monday of conspiring to commit violence in an effort to overthrow the government.

The penalty could be 10 years in prison. They are to be sentenced on Tuesday.

About 45 activists, students and trade unionists were arrested last February while attending a meeting convened by Munyaradzi Gwisai, a lecturer at the law school at the University of Zimbabwe and a former member of Parliament for Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, to discuss the antiauthoritarian uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

Prosecutors claimed that Mr. Gwisai and the others were planning to start a similar uprising in Zimbabwe aimed at toppling President Robert G. Mugabe, who has been in power for three decades. Most of the defendants were later released, but six, including Mr. Gwisai, were charged with serious crimes. Lawyers for the accused said the meeting was an academic discussion, not a planning session for a revolution.

The judge in the case, Kudakwashe Jarabini, said in court that while watching videos of the Arab uprisings was not a crime, the organizers had intended to incite hostility toward the government by playing them, according to people in the courtroom.

Habari kamili

 

[MzalendoHalisi]

Jamaa kiboko!!!!

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Jamaa kiboko!!!!

Hapendi utani!

 

[pmwasyoke]

Jamaa mwoga hata wa kivuli chake!

 

[Utingo]

ingekuwa kikwete yuko hivyo angeshatufunga wengi....I love TZ

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Hukumu yaahirishwa hadi kesho!
Zimbabwe 'Egypt video' sentencing delayed
Court delays sentencing of six convicted of "conspiring to commit public violence" for watching videos of uprising.

Last Modified: 20 Mar 2012 15:10

A Harare judge said the "manner and motive" of Munyaradzi Gwisai and five others showed bad intent [AFP]

A Harare court has adjourned sentencing on a former opposition legislator and five other civic activists convicted for "conspiring to commit public violence".

The sentence, due to be handed down on Wednesday, comes after magistrate Kudawashe Jarabini ruled on Monday that former legislator Munyaradzi Gwisai and five others were guilty of conspiring to commit public violence during a meeting in which they watched video footage of mass uprisings in Egypt that toppled its longtime ruler.

Jarabini said that watching a video was not a crime, but the "manner and motive" of the February 2011 meeting showed bad intent.

"It is an affront to common sense to say the meeting was innocent and academic," he said.

Showing footage of uprisings in both Tunisia and Egypt that included "nasty scenarios" was intended to arouse hostility toward Zimbabwe's government, Jarabini said.

-Al Jazeera

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Mwishowe jamaa waponea chupu chupu!
Zimbabwe Activists Fined, Get Community Service

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: March 21, 2012 at 9:51 AM ET

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A Zimbabwe court on Wednesday fined six civic activists $500 each and ordered them to do community service for conspiring to commit public violence during a meeting in which they watched video footage of mass uprisings in Egypt that toppled its longtime ruler.

Harare magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini on Wednesday ordered Munyaradzi Gwisai and five others to carry out 420 hours of community service or face a year in jail. He suspended another 12 months imprisonment on condition they don't commit another similar offense.

The group was arrested last year for holding a meeting it said was an academic lecture on democratic rights.

Jarabini found the activists guilty on Monday, saying that while watching a video was not a crime, the "manner and motive" of the February 2011 meeting showed bad intent. He ruled that showing footage of uprisings in both Tunisia and Egypt that included "nasty scenarios" was intended to arouse hostility toward Zimbabwe's government.

The activists had faced a maximum prison sentence of up to ten years. Original charges of treason carrying a possible death sentence were dropped in months of legal wrangling.

-The New York Times