Zimbabwean Booker Prize nominee Tsitsi Dangarembga is heading to court to face trial in Zimbabwe just days after reaching the Booker Prize’s six-book shortlist.
Dangarembga was arrested in July during anti-corruption protests and charged with incitement to commit violence and breaching anti-coronavirus health regulations. She was later freed on bail. The trial begins on September 18.
Zimbabwe authorities banned the protests called by opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, head of the Transform Zimbabwe party, against alleged state corruption and the country’s collapsing economy.
“I’m happy to be out in the fresh air,” Dangarembga told AFP while leaving the magistrates’ court. “It’s a whole experience, something I’ve never gone through,” she said.
The author added that while the constitution provides for peaceful demonstration, “it seems impossible to do that practically because you run the risk of being arrested if you do it.”
Fadzayi Mahere, a lawyer and spokeswoman for the main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance, stated her following her own jail release.
“We should continue to stare the beast in the face. Fear is not an option. We can’t be afraid to speak out against poverty, injustice and corruption,” she told AFP as she exited the court.
Amnesty International condemned the arrests of Dangarembga and Mahere.
“The brutal assault on political activists and human rights defenders who have had the courage to call out alleged corruption and demand accountability from their government is intensifying. The persecution of these activists is a blatant abuse of the criminal justice system and a mockery of justice,” they said in a statement at the time.
