Harare — Zimbabwean activist pastor Evan Mawarire was acquitted on Wednesday of trying to overthrow former president Robert Mugabe in protests last year that shut down major cities and paralysed public transport. The court ruling came a week after Mugabe, who ruled for nearly 40 years, was ousted by a military intervention. "There is no evidence that he (Mawarire) urged a violent removal of government," high court judge Priscilla Chigumba said in her ruling. The judge said Mawarire had called for nonviolent protests in response to the country’s economic crisis. Mawarire became the face of anti-Mugabe demonstrations last year when he posted an internet video of him wearing the national flag and lamenting Zimbabwe’s troubles. The video inspired the ThisFlag movement that led mass protests across the country. Authorities responded by banning street protests in Harare and what they deemed "abuse" of the national flag. "The whole journey has been absurd," Mawarire told reporters afterwar...

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