A Zimbabwean court found a pastor not guilty on Wednesday of attempting to subvert the government in a case seen as a barometer of judicial independence under new President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Evan Mawarire was a strident critic of former President Robert Mugabe. His #ThisFlag movement last year organised the biggest protests in a decade against Mr. Mugabe. He was arrested in September and faced up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
Mr. Mawarire said he would keep up the pressure. “If they (the new government) do to us what Robert Mugabe’s government did to us, we will do the same thing to them...,” he told reporters in court room soon after High Court Judge Priscilla Chigumba’s judgment.
Ms. Chigumba said state prosecutors failed to show evidence that Mr. Mawarire’s actions were a criminal offence. She also found him not guilty of inciting people to commit public violence.
