(Johannesburg) \u2013 A\u00a0Zimbabwe court on June 3, 2026, acquitted and released a prominent opposition activist after more than seven months in detention on baseless charges, Human Rights Watch said today. The case underscores the ongoing weaponization of the criminal justice system by President Emmerson Mnangagwa\u2019s government.\u00a0
A Harare magistrates\u2019 court\u00a0acquitted Godfrey Chidhau Karembera, 47, popularly known as \u201cMadzibaba Veshanduko\u201d\u00a0(\u201cleader of change\u201d in Shona), of incitement to participate in a public gathering with intent to commit public violence. Karembera was arrested and detained on October 20, 2025, with a magistrate court refusing him bail three times.\u00a0
\u201cKarembera\u2019s acquittal after more than seven months in detention is a stark reminder of the threats critics of the regime face in Zimbabwe,\u201d said\u00a0Idriss Ali Nassah, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cThe authorities repeatedly misuse the justice system to target opposition activists.\u201d
Karembera\u2019s lawyer, Paidamoyo Saurombe, told Human Rights Watch that the charges alleged that he had distributed and printed fliers aimed at mobilizing people to attend the \u201cOne Million Men March\u201d protest on October 17, 2025. The protest was called to express opposition to the Mnangagwa administration and a proposed constitutional amendment to extend the president\u2019s term of office.\u00a0
A few days prior to his arrest, Karembera had to move out of a rented home in Harare due to heightened surveillance by people in unmarked vehicles, his wife told Human Rights Watch. She said that men in civilian clothes asked her about her husband several times. The family had moved to Harare, the capital, following the destruction of their home in Guruve, 150 kilometers north of Harare, in a suspected arson attack in April 2025.
\u201cOn October 20, at about 10 p.m., some unknown people went to where Karembera was staying and broke down the door,\u201d said Karembera\u2019s lawyer. \u201cThey blindfolded him, bundled him into a vehicle and drove him to a secluded place where they beat him up severely until the following morning. They then went and dumped him at the Law and Order Section at Harare Central Police Station.\u201d\u00a0
Karembera\u2019s wife, said that Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights informed her about her husband\u2019s whereabouts. When she saw him at the police station on the morning of October 21, he was in severe pain and could barely sit or stand. \u201cHe had no shirt and his head was swollen,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was coughing and spitting blood.\u201d\u00a0
His lawyer said that Karembera had suffered severe injuries from the beating and needed immediate medical care, but that the authorities only allowed Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights to attend to Karembera\u2019s injuries after his lawyer had obtained a High Court order.\u00a0
The magistrate court three times denied Karembera bail on the grounds that he was a flight risk and would most likely interfere with witnesses if released, his lawyer said. The High Court twice upheld the lower court\u2019s rulings, leaving Karembera in prolonged pre-trial detention at Harare\u2019s Remand Prison.
The authorities have frequently used prolonged detention to punish critics of the government, Human Rights Watch said. In November 2024, a Harare magistrate court freed an opposition leader, Jameson Timba, and 34 others who had spent five months in custody after handing down suspended sentences on charges of participation in an unlawful gathering. Another opposition leader, Jacob Ngarivhume, was freed after eight months in prison when Zimbabwe\u2019s High Court set aside his\u00a0conviction and sentence. A journalist, Blessed Mhlanga, spent 72 days in\u00a0detention after authorities\u00a0charged him with transmitting information inciting violence.\u00a0
Opposition activists, human rights defenders and journalists who have been arrested are often denied basic due process, notably access to medical attention and the right to bail.\u00a0
The African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights and the\u00a0International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), both of which Zimbabwe ratified, prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and other ill-treatment, and denial of the right to a fair trial. The rights are also protected under Zimbabwe\u2019s Constitution.\u00a0
The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the international expert body that provides authoritative analysis of the ICCPR, has stated that pre-trial detention as a means of punishment violates the right to a fair trial.
Authorities in\u00a0Zimbabwe have used widespread violence, intimidation, arbitrary detention, and prosecution of opposition politicians and activists critical of the ruling party\u2019s proposed constitutional amendment to extend presidential terms. As the issue is debated in the country, it is critical for the authorities to uphold the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, Human Rights Watch said.\u00a0
\u201cThe Zimbabwe government\u2019s weaponization of the courts against political opponents erodes the rule of law and undermines respect for human rights,\u201d Nassah said. \u201cThe authorities should cease using the criminal justice system to violate the rights of people who have dissenting views.\u201d
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