A Zimbabwean court has released opposition leader Jameson Timba and 34 activists, sentencing them to suspended prison terms after five months in detention.
Timba, interim leader of a faction of the Citizens Coalition for Change party, was sentenced to a two-year term, which will not be enforced unless he commits a further offense.
The activists, arrested alongside Timba, were given shorter suspended sentences, with the court acquitting 30 others who had been detained with them.
The group was arrested in May at Timba’s residence in Harare, charged with participating in an unlawful gathering and promoting violence. The court had previously dismissed charges of disorderly conduct in September.
Their defense claimed they were merely attending a barbecue to commemorate the Day of the African Child, an annual observance of the African Union.
Amnesty International condemned the arrests as part of a wider crackdown on opposition under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government. The organization also raised concerns over reports of torture during police detention.
Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party, under both Mnangagwa and the late Robert Mugabe, has faced repeated accusations of using the judiciary and police to suppress political dissent.
The case has drawn attention to the growing repression of opposition voices in Zimbabwe as the country heads into a critical election period.
