Zimbabwe court frees 14 opposition activists jailed for months

• 14 opposition activists are released on bail by a Zimbabwe court.
• They were arrested after fighting with ruling party members at the funeral of an opposition supporter.
• The release comes days after Commonwealth officials visited Zimbabwe to determine if conditions are favorable for readmittance into the organization.

14 opposition activists were released on bail by a Zimbabwe court on Tuesday following fights with ruling party members during the funeral of an opposition supporter whose mangled body was discovered in a well.

On June 14, legislators Job Sikhala and Godfrey Sithole were arrested alongside members of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), the major opposition party.

Each defendant was required to post a 50,000 Zimbabwean dollar (US$78) bond.

Their release occurred just days after a mission from the Commonwealth arrived to determine if conditions were favorable enough to permit Zimbabwe’s readmission into the organization, which is composed primarily of former British colonies.

“We breathe a sigh of relief that 14 of our members were granted bail,” party spokeswoman Fadzai Mahere told AFP.

“However we condemn the continued abuse by Zanu-PF (the ruling party) of state institutions including the police service, the prison service and the court system to silence political opponents,” she said.

Sithole was released from a maximum security jail on the outskirts of Harare last week, while his colleague, the outspoken attorney Sikhala, remains incarcerated there.

During his more than two-decade-long political career, Sikhala has been arrested 67 times but has never been convicted.

Mahere stated that there has been an increase in “violence, persecution, and arbitrary arrests of our people for no reason and on bogus allegations.”

Next year, the country will hold general elections.

Zimbabwe’s membership in the Commonwealth was suspended in 2002 due to elections marred by violence and graft. In 2003, ex-strongman Robert Mugabe abruptly withdrew Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth.

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