Zimbabwe: Opposition Activist Acquitted, Freed After 7 Months

Johannesburg — Government Weaponizes Criminal Justice System for Political Purposes

A Zimbabwe court on June 3, 2026, acquitted and released a prominent opposition activist after more than seven months in detention on baseless charges, Human Rights Watch said today. The case underscores the ongoing weaponization of the criminal justice system by President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government.

A Harare magistrates' court acquitted Godfrey Chidhau Karembera, 47, popularly known as "Madzibaba Veshanduko" ("leader of change" in Shona), of incitement to participate in a public gathering with intent to commit public violence. Karembera was arrested and detained on October 20, 2025, with a magistrate court refusing him bail three times.

"Karembera's acquittal after more than seven months in detention is a stark reminder of the threats critics of the regime face in Zimbabwe," said Idriss Ali Nassah, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities repeatedly misuse the justice system to target opposition activists."

Karembera's lawyer, Paidamoyo Saurombe, told Human Rights Watch that the charges alleged that he had distributed and printed fliers aimed at mobilizing people to attend the "One Million Men March" protest on October 17, 2025. The protest was called to express opposition to the Mnangagwa administration and a proposed constitutional amendment to extend the president's term of office.

A few days prior to his arrest, Karembera had to move out of a rented home in Harare due to heightened surveillance by people in unmarked vehicles, his wife told Human Rights Watch. She said that men in civilian clothes asked her about her husband several times. The family had moved to Harare, the capital, following the destruction of their home in Guruve, 150 kilometers north of Harare, in a suspected arson attack in April 2025.

"On October 20, at about 10 p.m., some unknown people went to where Karembera was staying and broke down the door," said Karembera's lawyer. "They blindfolded him, bundled him into a vehicle and drove him to a secluded place where they beat him up severely until the following morning. They then went and dumped him at the Law and Order Section at Harare Central Police Station."

Karembera's wife, said that Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights informed her about her husband's whereabouts. When she saw him at the police station on the morning of October 21, he was in severe pain and could barely sit or stand. "He had no shirt and his head was swollen," she said. "He was coughing and spitting blood."

His lawyer said that Karembera had s