HARARE – Transform Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume has been freed on appeal, eight months into a widely condemned four-year prison term imposed earlier during the year by a Harare magistrate for allegedly inciting violence.

High Court judges Pisirayi Kwenda and Fatima Maxwell ruled the opposition leader was wrongly convicted for the alleged 2020 offence.

Ngarivhume was jailed for four years but has been serving an effective 3-year sentence for allegedly using his Twitter account to urge peaceful protests against massive corruption and denial of socio-economic rights to ordinary Zimbabweans under Zanu PF rule.

Judges said there was no evidence produced in court to prove the politician and activist owned the Twitter account used as the basis for his conviction.

Justice Kwenda said: “This is a unanimous decision of the court. The appellant appeared in the court below charged with incitement to commit public violence. Alternatively, he was charged with intent to participate in a gathering to promote violence. He denied the charge.

“The state case was that the appellant, the president of Transform Zimbabwe party, posted numerous messages on his Twitter handle pertaining to the July 31, 2020, protests. In the messages, he was said to have written: ‘31 JULY DEMO: THIS IS NOT POLITICS, IT’S A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. WE HAVE BEEN PATIENT, TOLERANT AND QUIET BUT THESE CORRUPT CRIMINALS ARE DESTROYING OUR FUTURE… LET’S BRING OUR SUFFERING TO THE GOVERNMENT’S ATTENTION. LET’S COME TOGETHER AS CITIZENS AND SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!’

“In his defence outline, Ngarivhume said he was denying the main and alternative charges. He denied that he had a Twitter handle @jngarivhume or @ngarivhume as said in the charge. He put the state to prove that he had posted those words on the alleged handle. He said he had a Twitter handle called @ngarivhumejacob. The words attributed to him were not his words.

“The matter proceeded to trial and the appellant was convicted of the alternative charge. He was sentenced to 48 months of which 12 months were suspended.

“Ngarivhume appealed against both the conviction and sentence. As against conviction, he relied on seven grounds and as against sentence he relied on four grounds. Counsel has opted to abide to the heads of argument.

“The conviction was based on the fact that he had not denied his association with the Twitter handle at the time he was charged by police. The court found that it was evidence beyond reasonable doubt.

“It is trite that in any criminal case, the onus is on the state to prove the charge which the accused is facing. The burden of proof in criminal cases shall rest on the prosecution.

“The state did not lead any evidence to prove their case. It is clear from the record that the state knew they should produce evidence. The police knew there was a need to link the accused to the words. They knew the procedure to be followed and they did not do that. We don’t know why they didn’t follow through but what we know is that the state did not prove it.

“We were asked to examine the evidence and there was no evidence which links the accused to the crime. It would not be right to uphold the conviction. In a result, the appeal is allowed. And the conviction is quashed.”

Ngarivhume’s lawyer Lovemore Madhuku told journalists after the court hearing that the state wasted eight eight months of the politician’s life.

“As we speak, he is now a very free man, they are going through the normal procedure of releasing him. The judges agreed with us even in the respect that the magistrate’s court did not have a basis at all (to convict), so he had his eight months wasted,” Madhuku said.

Ngarivhume was sentenced by Harare magistrate Feresi Chakanyuka on April 28, 2023.

His imprisonment was condemned as a brazen abuse of power by the Zanu PF-led authority.

Ngarivhume, together with former CCC legislator Job Sikhala – still in prison – has been widely regarded as a political prisoner in the clutches of Emmerson Mnangagwa’s tough rule.