Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga released on bail

The Zimbabwean Award-winning novelist was arrested on Friday, 31 July 2020 while taking part in banned anti-corruption protests. The author was, however, released on a bail of $65 on Saturday 1 August 2020.

Tsitsi Dangarembga, an award-winning Zimbabwean author and Booker Prize nominee, was released on bail after her arrest during an anti-government protest.

Eleven other people held by the police on Friday – including Fadzayi Mahere, a lawyer and spokeswoman for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance party – were also freed on Saturday.

They were asked to return to court on September 18.

Dangarembga was charged with incitement to commit violence and breaching anti-coronavirus health regulations after staging a two-woman demonstration in the capital on Friday, the day of planned protests against corruption and deepening economic crises.

On the previous day, police had warned that anyone who attends the protest would ‘only have themselves to blame’.

Dangarembga was carrying placards calling for reforms and the release of Hopewell Chin’ono, a prominent journalist arrested last week under a government crackdown.

In a Twitter post, Dangaremba had urged the citizens of Zimbabwe to end their suffering by taking necessary actions.

Amnesty International, in a statement issued on Friday, condemned the assault on political activists and human rights defenders by calling it ‘a blatant abuse of the criminal justice system and mockery of justice’.

Mnangawa came to power following a military overthrow of former President Robert Mugabe who had ruled for nearly four decades. However, the current president has failed to deliver on his promise of rejuvenating the economy and this has led to a feeling of popular anger.

Critics have also accused the president of being heavy-handed with his political opponents, banning protests, abducting and arresting critics, and exploiting a COVID-19 lockdown to stifle dissent.