Zimbabwe court fines Tendai Biti for preempting election results
Magistrate rules MDC deputy chair's actions could have undermined official announcement
A Zimbabwean court on Monday convicted and fined Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) deputy chair Tendai Biti $200 for declaring Nelson Chamisa the winner of 2018’s hotly disputed elections. Biti, who has been arrested several times in what is widely seen as political persecution of the opposition, escaped jail after Harare magistrate Gloria Takundwa sentenced him to a $200 fine on the first count of announcing results and a suspended six-month jail term on the second count of declaring Chamisa the winner. Takundwa ruled that Biti’s actions had the potential to undermine the official announcement by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). “The accused announced that they had results that showed that the next president of Zimbabwe is Nelson Chamisa at which time ZEC had not finished collating results,” the magistrate said. “Evidence from the state’s four witnesses was not discredited. The accused in his testimony said he held a press conference to compel ZEC to quickly announce res...
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