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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter—
Opposition activist Linda Masarira yesterday escaped jail by a whisker after her jail term was set aside on condition she performs 385 hours of community service at Marlborough Clinic in Harare. Masarira was facing charges of contravening section 38 (c) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act) by obstructing pedestrians and vehicles during the July 6, 2016 demonstrations which they code named #ShutdownZim.
She was convicted by Mbare magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje after a full trial. Mr Mambanje sentenced Masarira to 18 months behind bars before setting aside seven months on condition of good behaviour.
The remaining 11 months were suspended on condition that she performs 385 hours of community service at Marlborough Clinic starting from yesterday. In mitigation, Masarira through her lawyer Mr Kudzai Kadzere, pleaded for the court’s leniency.
Mr Kadzere urged the court to consider that his client had already served jail time during her 89-day stay in remand prison pending hearing of the case. “I would want to reiterate that the now convicted person spent almost 90 days for a crime which by State’s admission does not warrant incarceration,” he said.
“The court should look at those three months as some sort of punishment and community service would amount to yet another form of punishment and eat into the time that she is supposed to spend towards raising her children.”
Hwowever in aggravation, the State maintained that Masarira’s stay at remand prison was necessitated by an outstanding warrant of arrest from a Mutare court which prompted Mr Mambanje to deny her bail then. The prosecution urged the court to send a strong message to would-be offenders that crime does not pay.
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