Consequences Of Persecution
The High Court’s quashing of two convictions of opposition leader Job Sikhala – one plotting to incite public violence and the one publishing false statements prejudicial to the state – means the vocal activist was jailed for 595 days for an offence he did not commit, a grave injustice.
This wrongful conviction and imprisonment occurred due to authorities’ political interests in the cases, which makes it a clear case of persecution by prosecution, a trusted weapon of authoritarian regimes.
Sikhala’s imprisonment at the notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison for almost two years – for doing nothing wrong – was not a case of mistaken identity, false confession, coerced forensic evidence or contaminated, but a product of political machination and authoritarian repression.
The consequences of wrongful imprisonment through malicious pretrial detention meant Sikhala unjustly endured loss of freedom, emotional trauma, economic hardship (loss of income and financial stability), social stigma and family suffering.
Justice should always prioritise truth and fairness, and it must not only be done, but also seen to be done.
In the Sikhala cases, there was no truth, no fairness and justice was done at all. Delivering a speech at the United Nations Geneva Summit on Human Rights and Democracy on 15 May, Sikhala described in graphic detail the mechanics and consequences of his wrongful imprisonment.
He said: “They kept me caged in solitary confinement day and night, always in chains. I was denied food and visits from relatives, colleagues, and friends. Access to reading materials and prayers from a religious leader of my choice. I am a lawyer; I know my rights. I know how corrupt and cruel Zimbabwe’s regime can be. Still, I was shocked. I had to seek multiple court orders to assert my rights.
“When I became sick with severe diarrhoea and vomiting, they denied me the medical doctor of my choice.
“When I got sick for the second time and was passing heavy blood, they kept me chained to a hospital bed for the entirety of my treatment, despite being on a sleeping dose.
“The regime made me face five trials. They blackmailed my initial legal team, led by Beatrice Mtetwa, to stop them from representing me.
“They threatened my lawyer, Harrison Nkomo, by pointing a gun to his forehead. In the end, the state denied me legal representation on the commencement of my trial when my lawyers Jeremiah Bamu and Harrison Nkomo were attending other cases in the superior courts, and the court proceeded with my trial.
“Endless postponements to the conclusion of my cases was the order of the day to just keep me in their caged solitary confinement. They procured two convictions against me. One from a law that does not even exist!! They insulted my character, labelling me an “unrepentant and incongruent criminal.
“And bail rulings pronounced me guilty before the trial even started. “Innocent until proven guilty” does not apply to anyone who dares to stand up to Mnangagwa’s corrupt regime. While I was in prison, they destroyed my legal practice, I founded my office looted, and my furniture scattered in different locations.
“Mnangagwa’s regime systematically destroyed me politically, socially, and economically. I came out and found everything ruined. And they didn’t stop there. Moreblessing, Ali’s family refused to bury her body until my release.
“We were all extremely emotional when the day finally arrived. But they unleashed a drunken mob of disrupters onto her burial to sing obscenities against me and disrupted the funeral, and no one was arrested up to date.
“Imagine that your beloved daughter and mother have been brutally murdered and cut into pieces, and you can’t even hold a private or respectful funeral to bury her. My family also became a victim of persecution.
“My beloved wife, Ellen, was unjustly arrested for a spurious road traffic offence. They convicted her and confiscated her driver’s license to prevent her from bringing me food in prison.
“Her driver’s licence has not yet been returned by the regime up to date. And it’s not just my family. Everyone associated with me has been persecuted.”
