Amnesty International (AI) has condemned the conviction and sentencing of a member of parliament for the opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) in Zimbabwe, Job Sikhala, over obstruction of justice.
Development Diaries reports that Sikhala’s trial was linked to a video on social media in which he is accused of saying that the ruling ZANU-PF had killed Moreblessing Ali, a CCC activist.
AI described the move as a travesty and further evidence of an escalating crackdown on peaceful dissent and the right to freedom of expression ahead of the elections due later this year.
It is understood that Sikhala was given a wholly suspended six months sentence with an option of paying U.S.$600 or spending six months in jail.
Sikhala, who has been detained since June last year, denied making the video and an expert witness testified in court that the footage had been tampered with.
‘The conviction and sentencing of Job Sikhala is a travesty of justice and a shocking demonstration of the growing crackdown on peaceful dissent, especially on opposition leaders and party members in Zimbabwe’, AI’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa, Flavia Mwangovya, said in a statement.
In its 2023 Freedom in the World report on political rights and civil liberties, Freedom House ranked Zimbabwe as ‘not free’, with the southern African country earning 28 points out of a possible 100.
Photo source: BBC Africa
