Former Zengeza West Member of Parliament Job Sikhala has returned to Zimbabwe after spending over four months outside the country, where he was seeking medical attention, reported NewsDay.
Sikhala left Zimbabwe shortly after his release from jail in January 2024, following a prolonged pre-trial detention of 595 days. He was initially arrested and charged with inciting public violence over the murder of opposition activist Moreblessing Ali, killed in May 2022. Additional charges were subsequently added during his incarceration.
Upon his return, Sikhala was welcomed by his family members, friends, and lawyer Arnold Tsunga at the Robert Mugabe International Airport.
While abroad, Sikhala addressed the United Nations Geneva Summit on Human Rights and Democracy on May 15th, where he spoke out against Zimbabwe’s deteriorating human rights record.
Darlington Chingwena, the information secretary of the National Democratic Working Group, has stated that they do not expect Sikhala to be re-arrested over his comments at the UN Geneva Summit on Human Rights and Democracy.
Amalgamated Teachers’ Rural Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president Obert Masaraure, who has been working with Sikhala, said:
I understand he has received numerous threatening calls, but we are aware that he is safe at the moment and we will continue to pray that he remains safe because we are aware that this regime can do anything.
Meanwhile, the High Court of Zimbabwe has quashed two recent convictions against Sikhala of two separate charges he was facing.
On Monday, July 22, the High Court acquitted Sikhala of the charge of inciting public violence, for which he had previously been ordered by a Harare Magistrate, Tafadzwa Miti, to serve a non-custodial sentence of 2 years, with the sentence wholly suspended on the condition of good behaviour.
In a separate ruling on the same day, Justices Pisirayi Kwenda and Benjamin Chikowero acquitted Sikhala of his conviction and sentence on charges of communicating falsehoods on social media, which had been handed down by Harare magistrate Feresi Chakanyuka.
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