MASVINGO – MDC deputy chairman Job Sikhala was freed on Z$5,000 bail by a court in Masvingo on Monday.
Justice Neville Wamambo at the Masvingo High Court threw out a prosecution request that Sikhala be barred from addressing rallies as part of his bail conditions. The state had also asked the judge to set bail at ZW$50,000.
Justice Wamambo said the request to bar the Zengeza West MP from addressing rallies was “unreasonable”. As a lawyer, the judge said, Sikhala was familiar with criminal laws.
The MP must also surrender his passport, the judge ruled.
Sikhala was denied bail when he appeared before a Bikita magistrate last Thursday charged with subverting a constitutional government.
He is accused of plotting to overthrow President Emmerson Mnangagwa after telling a rally in Bikita that the MDC would “overthrow” the Zanu PF leader before the next elections in 2023.
Human rights lawyers say Sikhala is the 21st person to be charged with treason this year, as Mnangagwa’s government cracks down on dissent.
