HARARE – They were grabbed shortly after disembarking from planes as they returned home after attending a workshop in the Maldives, and accused of subversion.

Preceding their arrest, the state-run Herald newspaper set the stage, telling its readers that the seven human rights activists were plotting “illegal regime change” and “civil unrest.” The activists planned to “instigate mayhem” in Zimbabwe, the paper added.

They were detained and interrogated for at least five hours before they had access to their lawyers. Their mobile phones and laptops seized, the activists were thrown into squalid prison cells and for weeks as they battled to secure bail left to contemplate a potential sentence of life imprisonment for a charge that amounts to treason.

When they were taken to court, prosecutors accused them of receiving training from a Serbian organisation the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS) on how to operate small arms and how to evade arrest during civil unrest. It was also alleged they received training on counter-intelligence and how to carry out acts of terrorism during future protests against Mnangagwa’s regime.

That was May 2019. Since then, prosecutors have failed to put George Makoni, 37, Tatenda Mombeyarara, 38, Gamuchirai Mukura, 32, Nyasha Mpahlo, 36, Farirai Gumbonzvanda, 26, Sithabile Dewa and Beauty Rita Nyampinga on trial.

On Wednesday, their nightmare came to an end as their trial all but collapsed when Harare magistrate Barbra Mateko – with consent from prosecutor Lancelot Mutsokoti – removed them from remand.

There was just no evidence to back up the charges. Police had arrested to investigate, prosecutors admitted as they kept seeking a postponement of the trial hoping to find a smoking gun on the seized electronic gadgets.

Reacting on Twitter, Dewa let out pent-up emotions of relief and anger: “They took away our freedom for 15 months for a crime we did not commit. They charged us with treason for attending a human rights workshop. Today, they withdrew charges but what about the pain and trauma we endured at the hands of the state? They must pay!”

“Fifteen months later! State decides to remove me and my friends from remand after being arrested and charged with subverting a constitutional government in May 2019,” Mpahlo tweeted.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights which took up the activists’ case described the collapse of the trial as “spectacular”.

The lawyers said the seven should never have been arrested – their ordeal adding another huge stain to President Mnangagwa’s human rights record.

Rights activists say since taking over as president following a November 2017 military coup, over 70 people have faced charges of plotting to oust him – but none of the arrests have led to a conviction.

Jestina Mukoko, the director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum said: “I’m happy that the yoke that they should never have carried is off. But I’m also thinking how much resources have been wasted in the last 15 months in a bid to persecute them.”

CANVAS, founded by Serbian dissident Srdja Popovic, issued a statement shortly after the activists were arrested, stating that “the charges against these activists are blatantly false.”

The organisation explained: “The workshop focused on advocacy and civic engagement capacity building such as: Developing Shared Vision of Tomorrow; Civic Engagement; Effective Communications; Protecting Privacy and Security; and Organisational Planning.

“For a decade and a half, CANVAS’ mission has been focused on the fact that nonviolence is morally and ethically superior to violence, and more likely to produce constructive outcomes and build strong and stable societies.

“Participation in a workshop with a focus on peace-building and nonviolence should never be considered a crime, as the practice of nonviolence and peaceful assembly are fundamental human rights.”

Makoni is an advocacy officer for the NGO Centre for Community Development Zimbabwe; Mombeyarara is the co-ordinator for lobby group Citizens Manifesto; Mukura is executive director of Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) while Mpahlo is the governance officer at Transparency International Zimbabwe.

Makoni works as advocacy officer for the Centre for Community Development Zimbabwe; Farirai Gumbonzvanda is a social justice and girls’ rights advocate; Dewa is the programmes manager of the NGO Heal Zimbabwe and Nyamupinga is the director of the Female Prisoners Trust.