FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Harare, August 6, 2025 — The Zimbabwean authorities must immediately end the judicial delays in the trial ruling of nine human rights defenders, said Protect Defenders Zw Trust/Zimbabwe Human Rights Monitors Platform today. The repeated postponement of the verdict, now expected on August 8, violates the fundamental right to a fair and timely trial and reflects a broader pattern of judicial harassment in the country.
The nine—Vusumuzi Moyo, Lust Chinobva, Robson Chere, Emmanuel Sitima, Simbarashe Blackstone, Phillis Pikitai, Daphne Gutsa, Samuel Gwenzi, and Namatai Kwekweza face charges of “disorderly conduct” for allegedly being part of a peacefully demonstrating (Calling for the release of the Avondale 78) outside the Harare Magistrates Court on June 27, 2024. The ruling has now been delayed twice without clear justification.
“These delays are not administrative oversights, they are calculated acts of repression,” said Sholom Takavengwa, Director of Protect Defenders Zw Trust. “Dragging out this process amounts to punishment without conviction and undermines the rule of law.”
The ongoing delays violate Zimbabwe’s obligations under international law, including Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to be tried within a reasonable time. Such judicial inertia causes lasting psychological harm, erodes the presumption of innocence, and weakens the ability of the accused to mount an effective defense.
Several of the defendants were previously subjected to arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, and alleged torture, raising further concerns of systemic abuse.
Protect Defenders Zw Trust calls on the Harare Magistrates Court to issue the ruling without further delay and urges Zimbabwean authorities to end the judicial harassment of civil society actors. Peaceful protest is not a crime, and the right to a fair trial must be respected for all.
