In
a
separate
case
on
February
15,
2024,
Sikhala
was
fined
US$500
by
Harare
Regional
Magistrate
Feresi
Chakanyuka
for
communicating
falsehoods.
Chakanyuka
also
handed
Sikhala
a
nine-month
suspended
sentence,
contingent
on
him
not
committing
a
similar
offence
within
the
next
five
years.
This
charge
was
related
to
Sikhala’s
2021
tweet
alleging
that
a
junior
police
officer
had
killed
a
baby
with
a
baton
in
Harare.
Amnesty
International
had
previously
condemned
Sikhala’s
conviction
for
“publishing
or
communicating
false
statements
prejudicial
to
the
state,”
describing
it
as
a
“travesty
of
justice.”
Khanyo
Farisè,
Amnesty
International’s
Deputy
Regional
Director
for
East
and
Southern
Africa,
noted
that
Sikhala
had
been
convicted
under
a
law
that
did
not
exist.
In
separate
rulings,
the
High
Court
has
now
overturned
both
of
these
convictions
and
sentences
after
Sikhala
launched
appeals
against
the
lower
court
decisions.
Responding
to
the
High
Court’s
rulings,
Sikhala
described
the
ZANU
PF-led
government
as
a
“criminal
regime.”
He
wrote
on
X:
For
595
days,
I
was
thrown
in
solitary
confinement
shackled
in
chains
like
a
terrorist
and
suffered
the
most
horrible
abuse
any
person
can
be
put
under
by
the
criminal
regime
in
Harare
for
allegedly
inciting
public
violence
to
revenge
the
gruesome
murder
of
Moreblessing
Ali.I
told
all
who
cared
to
listen
to
me
that
I
did
not
commit
any
crime
in
my
professional
calling
to
represent
the
Moreblessing
Ali
family.
I
told
all
of
you
that
it
was
the
evilness
that
resided
in
the
hearts
of
those
who
ran
our
country,
and
it
was
political
persecution
to
remove
me
from
the
2023
general
elections.Today,
the
High
Court
sat
in
Harare
to
hear
my
two
appeals,
one
fake
conviction
of
publishing
falsehoods
and
another
one
of
inciting
public
violence
to
revenge
the
death
of
Moreblessing
Ali.The
High
Court
acquitted
me
in
the
two
cases.
There
was
concurrence
by
the
state
that
the
first
case
was
a
wrong
conviction
based
on
the
law
that
does
not
exist
at
all.In
the
second
case
of
Moreblessing
Ali,
the
state
agreed
that
there
was
no
evidence
at
all
in
the
record,
showing
that
I
incited
anyone.To
those
who
have
been
used
to
persecuting
me,
my
family,
and
everyone
associated
with
me,
remember
there
is
God
in
heaven.Your
day
of
judgment
shall
also
come.
The
nonsense
peddled
that
it
then
defeats
our
view
that
the
judiciary
is
captured
when
it
comes
to
political
prisoners
is
as
scandalous
as
its
peddlers.Where
there
is
no
evidence
that
even
a
kraalhead
would
convict
leaves
judiciary
officers
of
dignity
with
no
option
but
to
uphold
their
dignity
by
throwing
away
fake
convictions.
Award-winning
journalist
Hopewell
Chin’ono
had
harsh
words
for
the
two
female
magistrates
involved
in
the
lower
court
rulings.
Chin’ono
described
Tafadzwa
Miti
and
Feresi
Chakanyuka
as
“shameless”
in
their
handling
of
the
cases
against
Sikhala.
Said
Chin’ono:
Feresi
Chakanyuka,
and
on
the
right
is
Tafadzwa
Mhiti,
the
two
shameless
magistrates
who
convicted
Job
Sikhala
for
crimes
he
didn’t
commit.Feresi
Chakanyuka
is
so
shameless
that
she
used
a
law
that
doesn’t
exist
to
convict
and
jail
Sikhala.
She
even
disregarded
a
High
Court
ruling
that
clearly
stated
such
a
law
doesn’t
exist!Make
them
famous
by
RETWEETING
them;
it
is
time
the
whole
world
knows
these
accessories
to
repression
and
abuse
of
power!There
must
be
an
online
website
that
documents
all
these
corrupt
and
captured
magistrates,
the
opposition
must
learn
to
fight
back
using
today’s
tools
like
the
internet
and
AI
to
expose
these
unprofessional
and
captured
ZANUPF
magistrates!It
is
unbelievable
that
Feresi
Chakanyuka
could
blatantly
disregard
the
ruling
of
a
higher
court
ruling
and
apply
a
non-existent
law
to
convict
someone!Tafadzwa
Miti,
too,
has
proven
that
she
is
no
better
than
Chakanyuka
with
her
equally
shameful
role
in
this
sham
trial.These
names
need
to
be
known
and
remembered
for
posterity!