Chibaya, Machingauta, And Others Found Guilty Of Disturbing Public Peace
Former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Members of Parliament, Amos Chibaya and Costa Machingauta, were convicted on Friday by Harare Magistrate Sharon Takafa for disturbing public peace. They were convicted along with Aletta Viremai, Lancelot Tungwarara, and Monica Mukwada.
The five activists were represented by lawyers Kudzai Kadzere and Chris Mhike from the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum.
The magistrate ruled that the CCC leaders acted with “common purpose,” meaning they were all responsible for the actions, as they continued chanting party slogans even after police ordered them to disperse.
However, Magistrate Takafa acquitted five other people, saying the police had made dragnet arrests and some of those arrested were simply going about their business when the incident occurred.
The case stems from a private meeting held at Machingauta’s house in Budiriro on January 14 of last year, where police say the actions of CCC leaders and supporters disrupted public peace. The court will return on Monday for pre-sentencing.
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