Zimbabwe court keeps opposition leader, activists in jail

HARARE - A Zimbabwe court sent opposition leader Jameson Timba and 65 supporters back to jail on Wednesday to await trial on charges of unlawful gathering following their arrests nearly three months ago.

Police arrested the interim leader of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) with nearly 80 people at his home in Harare on June 16 and claimed they were intending to promote public violence.

The Harare Magistrate's Court acquitted the group of disorderly conduct but said they must still face a charge of being in an unlawful gathering when they were arrested.

Rights groups including Amnesty International say the charges were politically motivated and part of a crackdown ahead of a regional summit in Harare on August 17.

Timba and the dozens of activists jailed for nearly 11 weeks were in court for the long-awaited hearing, which had been postponed several times.

Magistrate Collet Ncube acquitted 12 of the activists of both charges, saying some were not even part of the gathering at Timba's home.

They included Timba's 19-year-old son who said he had been delivering a Father's Day gift.

A separate court on Wednesday released on bail three pro-democracy activists jailed since July 31 on charges of disorderly conduct for protesting the arrest of Timba and the others.

Rights activist Namatai Kwekweza, teachers' union leader Robson Chere and former Harare municipal councillor Samuel Gwenzi were hauled off an aeroplane at the Harare International Airport as they were about to fly to a civil society conference in the town of Victoria Falls.

The trio walked free on Wednesday night.

Kwekweza said she felt a "deep sense of relief that finally after 36 days I am able to go home and be with my family", speaking to reporters outside the prison moments after her release.

She, along with the two men, looked happy but tired as they hugged and embraced relatives as they stepped out, an AFP correspondent saw.

"What has happened to us has been happening across the country and I think we should not take away attention from... so many people especially the 79 who are still in prison," she said.

Their lawyer, Charles Kwaramba had earlier said the three were told to pay $150.

UN-appointed experts previously revealed they had been tortured in detention, including by waterboarding.

"I'm still having some pains after the torture I experienced," Chere said, describing internal chest pain on the left side of his body.

Amnesty says Zimbabwe security forces arrested more than 160 civil society activists and opposition party members ahead of the summit of the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) where President Emmerson Mnangagwa became chairman.

Zimbabwe's opposition has faced a wave of arrests after disputed August 2023 elections in which Mnangagwa's ZANU-PF -- in power since independence in 1980 -- won a majority in parliament.

"I am very excited to continue the fight, I am very energetic," said Kwekweza.