The pastor leading Zimbabwe’s new protest movement walked free from court yesterday after charges against him of attempting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe’s authoritarian government were thrown out.
Evan Mawarire was greeted outside Harare magistrates’ court by several hundred cheering supporters after the magistrate told the court that his “remand... is hereby refused” and acquitted him of the charges.
Mawarire, who started the popular ThisFlag Internet campaign in April, was an organiser of a one-day nationwide strike last week that closed offices, shops, schools and some 
government departments.
Mawarire, 39, had appeared in court, the national flag tied around his neck, on allegations of setting up a campaign aimed at “overthrowing or attempting to overthrow the government by unconstitutional means.”
A recent series of demonstrations, the largest in years, has been driven by an economic crisis in Zimbabwe that has left banks short of cash and the government struggling to pay its workers.
Asked by magistrate Vakai Chikwekwe if he understood the charges against him, he said: “I have understood, your worship.”
Mawarire was originally charged with inciting public violence when he was arrested on Tuesday, his lawyer Harrison Nkomo said.
“This is clearly unlawful because upon his arrest he was not informed of these (new) charges,” Nkomo told the court.
Mugabe, 92, has previously used his ruthless security forces to crack down on any public show of dissent.
The protests have revealed long-simmering frustration in a country where 90 percent of the population is not in formal employment.
Mugabe, who is increasingly fragile, has overseen years of economic decline, repression of dissent, allegedly rigged elections and mass emigration since he came to power in 1980.
“The arrest of Pastor Evan Mawarire appears to be a well-calculated plan to intimidate him and other activists,” Muleya Mwananyanda of Amnesty International said in a statement.
“Instead of suppressing dissenting voices, Zimbabwean authorities should be listening to protesters.”
Amnesty said about 300 people had been arrested for participating in protests around the country since they started last week.


Zimbabwe anti-riot police guarding the entrance at the Harare magistrate’s court where pastor Evan Mawarire was due to appear in court on charges of inciting public violence following his arrest on Tuesday.