Tsitsi Dangarembga, a highly recognized author, has had his conviction overturned by Zimbabwe’s High Court.
Ms. Dangarembga was convicted guilty of inciting violence last year after holding a banner asking for political reform, which a magistrate said may have disrupted the quiet.
She was given a six-month suspended sentence and fined.
It is unclear why the verdict was modified, but according to AFP, the judges believed it was reached erroneously.
Ms. Dangarembga’s lawyer also told AFP that “no offense was committed in the first place” by his client.
Ms. Dangarembga pleaded not guilty at the time in a trial that critics argued was an indication of a government crackdown on dissent.
“The space for freedom of expression and media freedom is shrinking and becoming increasingly criminalized,” Ms. Dangarembga told the BBC at the time.
When President Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed office in 2017, he promised to implement reforms following his predecessor, Robert Mugabe’s, decades-long harsh regime, but critics say little has changed.
A senior opposition MP was recently convicted of obstructing justice. Job Sikhala’s guilty sentence prevents him from running in the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for July or August. His trial, according to some, was politically motivated.
Ms. Dangarembga was convicted alongside her friend, Julie Barnes, who was also acquitted, and she posted a selfie of herself beaming outside the High Court with what appear to be her lawyers.
Ms. Dangarembga is a well-known Zimbabwean author. This Mournable Body, her novel, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020.
