Chronicle Editor
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
A UNITED Kingdom based science teacher and opposition activist, William Chinyanga (50) has been charged with four counts of terrorism after he encouraged his followers on social media to burn businesses and service stations in his home country, Zimbabwe.
The charges relate to a video the London based teacher reportedly shared on his Facebook page on December 1 in 2019. That video came barely a year after the January riots that rocked Zimbabwe and left buildings and businesses around the country destroyed by opposition activitists. Chinyanga was initially arrested on 25 February by officers from the London Metropolitan Counter Terrorism Command.
On his appearance at London’s Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing, Chinyanga, was only asked to speak only when confirming his name.
According to the UK’s Daily Mail, the Old Bailey’s Mr Justice Sweeney set a provisional trial date of 10 January 2022 with a further preparatory hearing on 28 May.
Chinyanga reportedly ran foul of the law in his adopted country after he reportedly posted a video on his social media titled the Roadmap to Zimbabwean Freedom. In the video, he allegedly encouraged people to burn buses, service stations, fuel tankers and buildings with the intention of exerting “pressure” on the Government.
The video was reported to the UK authorities and they deemed it worth investigating. After his initial court appearance last year, he was released on bail and instructed “Not to post or support acts of violence online. To sign on at Islington Police Station every Sunday between 1400hrs and 1800hrs. No to approach/enter Zimbabwe Embassy or surrounding streets namely The Strand, Agar, William the 4th Street.”
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