BULAWAYO – Binga North MP Prince Dubeko Sibanda appeared in court Monday accused of incitement of public violence.
The MDC Alliance’s Matabeleland North chairman was released on bail by Bulawayo magistrate Tinashe Tashaya.
The court heard that Sibanda, 47, gave two employees of Pick ‘n’ Pay masks written #ZanuPFMustGo on August 2.
Prosecutor Nkathazo Dlodlo alleged that the masks were “meant to incite public violence.”
“The accused person had no right to act in the manner he did,” according to an outline of the charges read in court by Dlodlo.
Sibanda is one of dozens of opposition politicians, lawyers, nurses, activists and journalists who have been arrested since last month as President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime clamps down on dissent.
The arrests intensified late last month in the run-up to anti-government protests that were planned for July 31.
Zimbabwe is grappling with a severe economic crisis, with inflation running above 837 percent.
Mnangagwa has labelled his opponents “dark forces” and “bad apples” while vowing to “flush them out”. He claims there is a plot led by Western countries to topple his regime through sponsored popular uprisings.
