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More woes for Zimbabwe 6
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
March 30, 2012

Harare Magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini on Friday 30 March 2012 dealt a blow to labour lawyer Munyaradzi Gwisai and five other activists by dismissing their application seeking to suspend their sentence of community service following their conviction on conspiracy to commit violence charges until their High Court appeal is finalised.

Gwisai, Antonater Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto were convicted and sentenced to a suspended term of imprisonment, 420 hours each of community service and a $500 fine each, but they are appealing both conviction and sentence.

The famous six had sought to have the community service sentence suspended pending the finalisation of the High Court appeal.

Magistrate Jarabini's ruling which was delivered on Friday 30 March 2012 effectively means that the six will have to carry out the community service while their appeal is being dealt with.

Their lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, had argued that this would be prejudicial to his clients, given that they had good prospects of winning their appeal.

"If the appeal is approved the community service cannot be undone," Muchadehama had argued, adding: "There is no likelihood that the accused persons will abscond the community service since they have already paid the fines and cannot risk skipping community service."

In his ruling on Friday, Magistrate Jarabini said there were no prospects of success of the appeal in the High Court.

He did not indicate whether there were no prospects of success of the appeal of the conviction, or of the sentence, or both. He further did not address in his ruling the submissions on the prejudice likely to be suffered by the six if they were to carry out the community service and then have their appeal succeed.

The six were arrested in February last year while attending a meeting organised by the Zimbabwe chapter of the International Socialist Organisation. Police accused the six of watching video footage of the popular Egyptian revolution which they intended to use as a model to unseat the government.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has criticised the conviction and sentence and welcomed the filing of the appeal by the activists.

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