Harare- MDC Alliance activist Makomborero Haruzivishe has been jailed for an effective 14 months by Harare magistrate Judith Taruvinga.
He was convicted of inciting violence and resisting arrest, charges which he denied.
Magistrate Taruvinga sentenced Haruzivishe to 24 months in prison and 10 months were suspended on the first count (incitement to commit public violence). On the second count of resisting arrest, Haruzivishe was sentenced to 12 months of which 6 months were suspended running concurrent.
Confirming the ruling under a tense police presence MDC Alliance national spokesperson Advocate Fadzayi Mahere said Haruzivishe was being targeted for being a member of the opposition.
“Mako has been given an effective 14 months in prison. So he is having a custodial sentence. We all know that Mako is being targeted simply because he is an MDC Alliance youth member and also because he speaks out against poverty, justice and corruption. That’s an abuse of the rule of law and it’s also unconstitutional and we are going to ensure we pursue all legal means to protect his rights,” said Advocate Mahere
She said his lawyers confirmed that they were going to appeal against the ruling.
“We have spoken to his lawyers and his lawyers are going to file an appeal definitely this week. We want to ensure that he gets bail pending appeal so that he spends less time incarcerated. We all know that the conviction is extremely controversial even the reasons for a custodial sentence” said Mahere before police halted the address.
Haruzivishe was last week convicted on charges of inciting public violence. He was represented by Kossam Ncube from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
