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$500 each and ordered to perform 420 hours of community service for conspiring to commit public violence.
The six were arrested during a meeting at which they were watching video footage of a mass uprising in Egypt and Tunisia last year in the city centre.
The prosecution had urged the court to impose a maximum sentence of 10 years.
However, magistrate Mr Kudakwashe Jarabini, found a fine and community service as appropriate sentence saying the penalty should not be outrageous but should send a message to would-be offenders.
Mr Jarabini fined Gwisai and his accomplices, Antoneta Choto (37), Tatenda Mombeyarara (30), Edson Chakuma (39), Hopewell Gumbo (33) and Welcome Zimuto (26) $500 apiece to be paid on or before 26 March after the defence successfully applied for time to pay.
If they fail to pay they all risk 10 months in jail.
In addition to that, they were sentenced to 24 months in prison with 12 months suspended for five years on condition they do not commit a similar offence within that period.
The remaining 12 months were suspended on condition each of the six performs 420 hours of community service at Government institutions starting on 31 March.
Gwisai and Choto will perform the community service at Haig Park Primary School, Mombeyarara at Zengeza Four High School, Chakuma at Warren Park One Primary School, Gumbo at Queensdale Primary School and Zimuto at Chinhoyi Hospital.
In passing the sentence, Mr Jarabini said: “What is of paramount importance in determining this sentence is that at the appropriate time, it was easy to start a riot. The video clips that were shown were easy to start a riot not only by the accused persons but by opportunists and it is the duty of the courts to safeguard the Constitution of the country.”
He said national leaders have vowed to stamp out violence and are calling for peace.
“The principals in the GPA are advocating peace and tranquillity but this was denigrated by the accused persons. It is, however, fortuitous that they were disturbed. Lately sentencing patterns should not only be deterrent but reformatory. However, some crimes demand custodial sentences even for first offenders but it is not only custodial which is deterrent,” he said.
The magistrate further said that Gwisai, Choto, Mombeyarara, Chakuma and Gumbo have minor children and if a riot had occurred those children would also have been affected.
He branded the five “irresponsible parents”.
Mr Jarabini said the court had taken a more compassionate approach, which calls for an exercise of leniency considering that the six were breadwinners and that Gwisai is a university lecturer with students looking up to him for tutorials and that Choto is of poor health.
He, however, said that it was not a licence for them to behave in the manner that they did.
After the sentencing, the six, through their lawyer Mr Aleck Muchadehama, notified the court of their intention to make a formal application of appeal against both conviction and sentence.
Mr Muchadehama said that he will apply for the suspension of the performance of community service pending determination of the appeal at the High Court.
Mr Jarabini deferred the case to 26 March to allow Mr Muchadehama to make his application.
After the court adjourned, family and friends could not contain their joy as they were seen jumping and hugging each other at the same time bursting into songs with women ululating.
There was commotion outside the court with Zimbabwe National Students Union members and Raymond Majongwe of the Progressive Teachers Union chanting slogans and singing as they provoked the police.
This led to the arrest of four Zinasu members for disturbing peace.
The offence was committed on 19 February last year at Zimbabwe Labour Centre, at Number 43 Julius Nyerere Way in Harare. Gwisai, a co-ordinator of the International Socialist Organisation, and his accomplices agreed to forcibly and to a serious extent disturb peace, security or order of the public in Zimbabwe.
They planned to mobilise people to revolt against the Government and demand the resignation of President Mugabe in the manner Egyptians had deposed their president, Mr Hosni Mubarak.
Online Reporter