The police in the Zimbabwean city of Masvingo arrested a Czech tourist. He filmed a video in which he described the poor economic situation in the country in English, talking about electricity and water outages. Čech ended up in custody immediately, as the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mariana Wernerová, confirmed to Czech Radio. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Masvingo
17:23 August 9, 2024 Share on Facebook
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According to the defense attorney, the Czech tourist is being prosecuted under a law that has not been in force in Zimbabwe for some time. (illustrative photo) | Source: Profimedia
“At the moment we are in touch with the Zimbabwean side as our nearest embassy is in neighboring Zambia. Through the embassy, we submitted a note to the Zimbabwean authorities, where we want to know more information about the accusation of our citizen and we want to ensure direct communication with him,” said Wernerová.
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A Czech tourist faces charges of spreading falsehoods with the intention of inciting the public. According to the defense attorney, however, he is being prosecuted under a law that has not been in force in Zimbabwe for some time. In addition, the judge rejected the application for bail.
In an effort to get meetings with Czech representatives, the tourist has been on hunger strike in prison since last weekend – this was reported by the South African server News24. According to Czech diplomacy spokeswoman Wernerová, a Czech diplomat will arrive in Zimbabwe next week. He will also take part in the main trial, which will take place on Friday.
Such arrests are not entirely uncommon. Just last month, the police arrested 44 student activists for an allegedly illegal assembly. In July, more than 80 citizens, including political activists, ended up behind bars.
Western embassies in the Zimbabwean capital Harare have criticized such arrests, and diplomats from European Union countries, for example, have called on local authorities to respect basic freedoms in line with Zimbabwe’s constitution and international human rights obligations.
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