Zim teacher charged with terrorism in UK

Source: Zim teacher charged with terrorism in UK – DailyNews

A SCIENCE supply teacher has been charged with terror offences over speeches shared on his Facebook page. William Chinyanga, 50, who was born in Zimbabwe, was charged with four counts of encouraging terrorism on January 13.

The charges relate to speeches allegedly shared by the teacher— who lives in Archway, north London — on Facebook in early December 2019. The videos encouraged viewers to burn down petrol stations and businesses in Zimbabwean capital Harare to put ‘‘pressure’’ on the government.

In January 2019, deadly riots broke out in Harare and other parts of the country as people protested a 300 percent rise in fuel prices. Over a dozen people were allegedly killed by security services and last week, the UK government slapped four senior officials in the Zimbabwe government with sanctions for their part in the skirmishes.

Chinyanga is a campaigner for political change in his home country, the Old Bailey heard. He was arrested on February 25 last year by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

On Friday, Chinyanga appeared at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing in his case. Justice Sweeney set a provisional trial date of January 10, 2022 with a further preparatory hearing on May 28. The defendant — who spoke only to confirm his identity in the dock — was granted conditional bail.

The video shared in early December 2019 — titled The Roadmap to Zimbabwean Freedom— allegedly urged viewers to burn buses, petrol stations, fuel tankers and buildings to exert political pressure. The video is understood to have been reported to authorities in Britain. — Daily Mail