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Sikhala on BBC HARDtalk
08 Apr 2024 at 16:06hrs | Views
Prominent Zimbabwean opposition activist Job Sikhala has been interviewed by Stephen Sucker on BBC HARDtalk this afternoon.
The interview was pre-recorded for broadcast on Wednesday.
The programme is watched by over 70 million world viewers. Sikhala, a veteran opposition leader, spent almost 600 days in prison amid accusations authorities were persecuting opposition leaders by prosecution.
On 30 January 2025, Sikhala, a former opposition CCC MP, was released after 595 days of arbitrary detention.
He had been arrested on 14 June 2022 for protesting the murder of fellow opposition activist Moreblessing Ali by a Zanu-PF brute thug (now in jail) and convicted on 3 May 2023 for obstruction of justice, while given a suspended six-month sentence with an option of paying US$600 as fine.
Sikhala was also convicted and sentenced to a suspended two-year prison term under a law that no longer exists after he was accused of posting a video on Facebook claiming that a police officer had killed a baby.
Zimbabwean authorities, who run an authoritarian system, are notorious for weaponising the criminal justice system to target, harass and intimidate opposition leaders.
The interview was pre-recorded for broadcast on Wednesday.
The programme is watched by over 70 million world viewers. Sikhala, a veteran opposition leader, spent almost 600 days in prison amid accusations authorities were persecuting opposition leaders by prosecution.
On 30 January 2025, Sikhala, a former opposition CCC MP, was released after 595 days of arbitrary detention.
He had been arrested on 14 June 2022 for protesting the murder of fellow opposition activist Moreblessing Ali by a Zanu-PF brute thug (now in jail) and convicted on 3 May 2023 for obstruction of justice, while given a suspended six-month sentence with an option of paying US$600 as fine.
Sikhala was also convicted and sentenced to a suspended two-year prison term under a law that no longer exists after he was accused of posting a video on Facebook claiming that a police officer had killed a baby.
Zimbabwean authorities, who run an authoritarian system, are notorious for weaponising the criminal justice system to target, harass and intimidate opposition leaders.
Sikhala on BBC HARDtalk pic.twitter.com/xTpNLFqRu8
— Bulawayo24 News (@Bulawayo24News) April 8, 2024
Source - newshawks
