Job Sihala, a politician for Zimbabwe, sleeps on the floor of an old maximum security jail in Harare at night.
The 50-year-old opposition deputy has spent almost two months in solitary detention.
The 50-year-old fireman has spent time in prison before; throughout his more than 20-year political career, he has been arrested 67 times but has never been found guilty, according to his attorney.
Robert Mugabe, a hero-liberator who reigned for 37 years with an iron hand, gave South Africa a lot of experience in apprehending violent protesters and dissidents.
However, rights organisations claim that as elections draw near, the crackdown has expanded into new areas and is now often accompanied by repeated arrests and very brutal detentions.
“It’s worse today than it was under Mugabe,” Beatrice Mthethwa, Sihala’s attorney, told AFP.
The National Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Justice and Information did not reply to AFP’s request for comment.
For a statement he made at a memorial ceremony for another opposition activist whose dismembered corpse had been discovered in a well days earlier, Sihala was detained in June with another opposition leader and MP, Godfrey Sithole.
The woman’s ghost would return to exact revenge on her murder, Sihal’s attorney assured the crowd.
Police characterised the day as being marked by a “orgy of public violence.”
“Parody”
According to reports, funeral attendees faced harassment from ZANU-PF supporters. In response, adversaries destroyed a member of the governing party’s home.
Sihala was accused of inciting violence in his speech and of obstructing justice since he reportedly implied that ZANU-PF members were responsible for the murder.
A guy who the police claim was the victim’s ex-lover has been detained for the murder.
The legal team for Sikhala disputes any connection between their client and the violence.
The case was labelled “political” and “a farce of justice” by Amnesty International.
Lucia Masuka, the head of the rights organisation in Zimbabwe, told AFP that the case was a part of a plot that has seen a number of opposition activists detained recently, often on suspicion of inciting violence.
A coalition of human rights organisations called the Zimbabwe NGO Human Rights Forum has documented 114 instances of arbitrary arrests nationwide in only the first half of this year.
Three teenage activists were held the same year on suspicion of staging their own abduction, while award-winning author Tsika Dangarembga was detained in 2020 for protesting.
rage against austerity
The crackdown occurs as President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, which took over for Mugabe in 2017, battles to control inflation, which reached more than 250 percent in July, put a stop to Zimbabwe’s frequent power outages, and alleviated entrenched poverty.
2023 will likely see a general election in the first part of the year.
Mthethwa, a seasoned advocate for Zimbabwe’s dissidents, predicted that things would become worse as the election drew near. There is no question, she insisted.
Masuka said, “There is an economic slump, and absolutely nothing is functioning.” “People are dissatisfied.”
According to Masuka, the government is discouraging other people from speaking out and participating in activism by punishing individuals like Sihala.
We’ve had a really chilly winter, so he needs to sleep on the floor, Mthethwa added.
Sihala, according to her, is shackled whenever he walks and is being detained in a solitary cell that is typically reserved for prisoners deemed to be dangerous.
Sihala, a member of the Movement for Democratic Change who is now a senior official with the Civic Coalition for Change, may spend up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
He will show up in court on Monday for a bail hearing after many prior efforts to gain his release were failed.
Mthethwa, however, expressed scepticism about his prospects, claiming that independent judges have been suspended, censured, or dismissed under Mnangagwa.
It’s more important to prosecute him and keep him in detention for as long as possible, she argued, than it is to actually convict him.