SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
A case against officials and members of the ZimRights pressure group, which has dragged on since 2012, finally ended in a Harare magistrates court on Tuesday, with the remaining three defendants receiving suspended sentences and a fine. On Monday the prosecutor had recommended that Dorcas Shereni, Tatenda Chinaka and Farai Bhani be sentenced to at least five years in prison, after they were convicted of “conducting illegal voter registration”. But Farai Bhani and Tatenda Chinaka received 24 month suspended sentences. Half the sentence was suspended for five years, on condition that they not commit any crime involving dishonesty. The other 12 months were suspended on condition that they perform community service. “But because the other defendant is a bit sickly and uses crutches, it was not appropriate to send her to jail. So Dorcas Shereni was ordered to pay a fine of $1,000,” lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara told SW Radio Africa after the sentencing on Tuesday. Farai Bhani was the only accused who was still in jail until the sentencing Tuesday. This was because he was also facing charges of fraud in a separate case, which stemmed from allegations that fake registration cards had been found at his home. Zimrights director, Okay Machisa and programmes manager Leo Chamahwinya were acquitted of charges in the same case back in June, due to a lack of evidence. The duo had faced allegations of involvement in ‘illegal voter registration’ and forging voter registration certificates “to tarnish the name of the Registrar General”. However charges against the trio sentenced Tuesday were not dropped. Each of the accused was represented by their own lawyer, and all three presented evidence of mitigating circumstances to the court on Monday, in an effort to influence the magistrate’s decision on sentence. The defense lawyers asked the court to consider that all three are first offenders, while the prosecution dismissed this, saying “it was unfortunate they had started their criminal careers “on the deep end”. Chinaka’s lawyer, Tavengwa Masara, told the court his client is the sole breadwinner for his family and also takes care of his terminally ill mother. Shereni’s lawyer, Trust Maanda, said his client walks had 75% disability and could not survive in a prison environment. The case has been described as part of a deliberate crack down on civil society.