Job Sikhala to appeal conviction, sentence

Freed opposition politician Job Sikhala is set to appeal his conviction and sentence for public violence incitement charges, his lawyers said Tuesday.

The former Zengeza West lawmaker and co-accused, Godfrey Sithole were on Tuesday handed wholly suspended two-year prison sentences by Harare magistrate Tafadzwa Miti.

Sikhala had endured nearly 600 days under a widely condemned pre-trial detention at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, Harare.

Under the conditions of the suspended sentence, Sikhala was ordered not to commit the same offence within the next five years.

His lawyer, Harrison Nkomo said they were filing a High Court appeal against both conviction and sentence.

"The prosecution should not have happened in the first place; we must not glorify things that are wrong," he said.

"My respective view is that his arrest was not supposed to have been effected. Equally, the prosecution and subsequent conviction.

"That being the case, we are taking the matter up with the High Court on appeal.

"What we want is an acquittal, not a conviction with a lighter sentence. No, we disagree with that."