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Jennie Williams set free
16 Mar 2018 at 16:00hrs | Views
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) leaders, Jenni Williams, was set free by Bulawayo Magistrate on Thursday.
Williams has been arrested more than 65 times.
Bulawayo Magistrate Gladmore Mushowe on Thursday set free pro-democracy campaigner Williams after ruling that Jenni's conduct (of protesting against bond notes) complained of by the state was not a criminal act but an exercise of constitutional rights.
The protesters, who were arrested outside Queens Sports Club where Zimbabwe was clashing with New Zealand in a cricket match, included Jennie Williams of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, several members of Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign, university graduates affiliated to #thisgown movement and several others.
Williams was bundled into a police vehicle by female police details after she had blocked the main entrance in protest against being denied entry to watch the match as police accused her of being a nuisance.
Williams, who was holding a photo-copied five dollar note, said she wanted to use the "money" for entrance fees, arguing that it is valid currency as it is similar to the bond notes that government intends to introduce in October.
"This paper is what you are giving us in October. This is a bond paper and you are giving us bond notes in October, so, what's wrong with this one. It even has a better message than yours will have … a hungry nation is an angry nation," Williams shouted, in an apparent address to the police who wanted her to leave the place.
Williams has been arrested more than 65 times.
Bulawayo Magistrate Gladmore Mushowe on Thursday set free pro-democracy campaigner Williams after ruling that Jenni's conduct (of protesting against bond notes) complained of by the state was not a criminal act but an exercise of constitutional rights.
Williams was arrested together with other protesters in Bulawayo, after staging a public protest against the failure of former President Robert Mugabe's government to address social and economic issues gripping the nation.Free at last: Bulawayo Magistrate Gladmore Mushowe on Thursday set free pro-democracy campaigner @WOZAJenni after ruling that Jenni's conduct (of protesting against bond notes) complained of by the state was not a criminal act but an exercise of constitutional rights. pic.twitter.com/bOWrrngi8T
— ZLHR (@ZLHRLawyers) March 16, 2018
Williams was bundled into a police vehicle by female police details after she had blocked the main entrance in protest against being denied entry to watch the match as police accused her of being a nuisance.
Williams, who was holding a photo-copied five dollar note, said she wanted to use the "money" for entrance fees, arguing that it is valid currency as it is similar to the bond notes that government intends to introduce in October.
"This paper is what you are giving us in October. This is a bond paper and you are giving us bond notes in October, so, what's wrong with this one. It even has a better message than yours will have … a hungry nation is an angry nation," Williams shouted, in an apparent address to the police who wanted her to leave the place.
Source - online
