High Court judge, Justice Nicholas Mathonsi, yesterday granted an application by former MDC-T Highfield Member of Parliament, Munyaradzi Gwisai and his five co-accused to suspended their community service pending an appeal against their conviction for watching a video of the Egypt uprising.
Gwisai was sentenced alongside co-accused to 420 hours of community service and fined $500 each by Harare magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini last month for attempting inciting public violence. But the activists appealed against both conviction and sentence. Yesterday, their lawyer Aleck Muchadehama said his clients had high prospects of success on appeal, hence an application to stay community service.
“In terms of prejudice, if they commence the community service they are likely to complete serving before the appeal is heard at the High Court and should the appeal succeed there would be no way to reverse it,” Muchadehama said.
The six activists were convicted of attempting to incite public violence after they were found watching video footage of last year’s uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Gwisai, who is also a law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, Antoinette Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto escaped effective 12-month-jail terms, which were wholly suspended on condition they performed community service.
