A pastor who was detained by police in Zimbabwe for allegedly trying to overthrow the country’s government led my long-time ruler, Robert Mugabe, has been freed by a court in the capital, Harare.
Pastor Evan Mawarire started a campaign against the government in early July for bad governance and mismanagement of the country. The campaign was mostly organized on social media with the hashtag #ThisFlag. Zimbabwe’s economic crisis has worsened recently, leading to a chronic cash shortage and delays in paying civil servants.
The protest, led by pastor Mawarire, successfully shutdown the country for two days. Dozens of protests were held in Harare. Many activists got involved, organizing people to protest against the government. Businesses, schools and government institutions were closed due to the protest. Observers even feared it could have led to economic collapse in the country. Commentators in the country say the shutdown was the biggest strike action since 2005.
Pastor Mawarire was later picked up by the police. It has been reported that police officials tried to trace who sent out the messages about the national shutdown. Mr Mawarire became the prime suspect.
He was initially charged with disturbing the public peace. #ThisFlag Twitter account confirmed that Pastor Mawarire was charged with section 36 for inciting public violence and disturbing peace. It said subversion charge was later added to the initial charges. Under Zimbabwe laws, the charge of subversion carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
In court, his lawyers successfully argued that the charge of subversion was added at the last minute, and that this will deny their client a fair trial. Mr Mawarire was represented in court by many human rights lawyers.
The court agreed with the argument put forward by Mawarire’s lawyers and released him. Local media reported that after Mr Mawarire was freed, his supporters celebrated the news, singing and dancing across the country.
Currently, the government has managed to pay the salaries of civil servants. Things seem to have returned to normal in the country, but reports say the country still faces a severe shortage of cash.
In 2009, Zimbabwe has to abandon its currency due to a hyperinflation. Salaries and other transactions had to be made in foreign currencies, specifically using the United States Dollar.
Since then, the government has tried to ban the import of many goods in order to save scarce foreign currency. This has led to widespread anger, as the country does not have the capacity to produce all basic goods need by consumers.
A staggering 90% of the population is reportedly not employed. Therefore, many Zimbabweans rely on cross-border trading to make a living.
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