Zimbabwe opposition figure gets suspended sentence after nearly 2 years in pretrial detention

By FARAI MUTSAKA
Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A Zimbabwe opposition figure who spent nearly two years in pretrial detention is set be freed after a magistrate sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence for inciting violence. Job Sikhala is seen by many as the face of resistance to Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party and President Emmerson Mnangagwa. He is expected to be freed within hours. Amnesty International had called the charges against him “baseless” and said his treatment was an example of the government’s attempts to silence dissent.