Fri Nov 22 19:14:22 UTC 2024: ## Zimbabwe Opposition Leader and 34 Activists Convicted After Months in Detention
**Harare, Zimbabwe** – A Zimbabwean court has convicted Jameson Timba, interim leader of a faction of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) opposition party, and 34 activists on charges of participating in an unlawful gathering. The group, arrested in June and held for over five months in pre-trial detention, faces up to five years imprisonment or a fine. Sentencing is scheduled for next week.
Thirty other activists arrested alongside Timba were acquitted. The charges stemmed from a gathering at Timba’s Harare residence on June 16th, initially described by police as disorderly conduct and participation in a gathering intended to incite violence. The court previously dropped the disorderly conduct charges in September. The defense maintained the gathering was a barbecue celebrating the Day of the African Child.
The arrests were part of a wider crackdown on opposition figures and activists before a July summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Harare. Amnesty International condemned the detentions as “a disturbing pattern of repression” and called for an investigation into allegations of torture during police custody. While President Emmerson Mnangagwa denied these allegations, he has repeatedly warned the opposition against inciting violence. The ruling ZANU-PF party, in power since independence, faces accusations of suppressing dissent.
First Piper 