Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Freed

Zimbabwean opposition politician Job Sikhala is to be released after more than a year-and-a-half in prison, his lawyers said, after a Harare court handed him a suspended sentence.

An outspoken and popular government critic, Sikhala, 51, was one of the most prominent figures to be arrested in recent years in what rights groups have described as a crackdown on dissent in the southern African country.

"He is now a free man. This is the only case that has been keeping him in custody, so he is going to come out," Sikhala's lawyer Harrison Nkomo told reporters outside the court.

"Job Sikhala has been given a two-year prison term wholly suspended for a period of five years on condition that he does not commit a crime involving incitement to commit public violence," he added.

"We have got instructions to take the matter up to the High Court on appeal. What we want is an acquittal, not a conviction with a lighter sentence. No, we disagree with that," Nkomo said.

A former lawmaker, Sikhala was convicted of inciting public violence last week at the end of a year-long trial that supporters said was politically motivated.

Another opposition member of parliament, Godfrey Sithole, was also found guilty on the same charges.

Both were handed a two-year suspended sentence.

This should mean long-awaited freedom for Sikhala, with his lawyers saying he was expected to walk out over the next 48 hours.

A small crowd of supporters chanted and danced in celebration on the court's steps after the verdict was read out.

Sikhala and Sithole were convicted of inciting supporters to avenge the death of their political ally Moreblessing Ali, who was murdered by a ruling party activist in May 2022.