MDC-Ts Epworth youth chairperson Alibi Billiat was on Wednesday slapped with a five-year jail term by a Harare magistrate for attacking a Zanu PF activist who refused to reveal his partys plans for the year.
Magistrate Morgan Nemadire convicted Billiat for attacking Tatenda Matambanadzo, saying a harsh sentence would send the right message to perpetrators of violence. Two years of the sentence were conditionally suspended leaving him with an effective three years in jail.
The magistrate said evidence produced in court suggested Matambanadzo was attacked for having failed to disclose his partys plans for the year 2011.
Nemadire said imprisonment was the only option after taking into account Billiat and his gang senselessly attacked someone who was not a threat to them. In aggravation, prosecutor Michael Reza urged the court to consider a stiffer penalty saying it would send a clear message to would-be offenders given the impending elections.
The court heard on the day in question, Billiat and his three colleagues, clad in MDC-T T-shirts, in June last year met Matambanadzo who was on his way to a tuckshop and asked him about his partys plans.
After Matambanadzo refused to disclose anything to them, they started assaulting him with booted feet, open hands and clenched fists all over his body. The matter was reported to the police, leading to Billiats arrest.
