HARARE – The High Court ordered freedom for MDC MP Joana Mamombe on bail Friday, following her arrest on March 2 over an alleged plot to overthrow the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Bail was set at $3,000 by Justice Davison Foroma for Zimbabwe’s youngest MP and the only woman to be charged with treason since black rule in 1980.
She must not address any news conferences and report twice weekly to the police as part of her conditions for release.
Mamombe, who represents Harare West in Parliament, is accused of subverting a constitutionally elected government over a January 14 news conference in Harare, at which prosecutors say she incited Zimbabweans to rise up and overthrow the government.
Trade unions called a three-day job boycott from January 14, but thousands of Zimbabweans poured out into the streets across the country in demonstrations that were crushed by the military and police. Some of the protests ended in looting.
Mamombe and 10 other MDC MPs have been arrested, along with trade unionists and prominent human rights advocates. At least 1,000 other Zimbabweans were arrested for crimes allegedly committed during the protests and 19 people were killed in police and military operations, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said in a statement on Friday.
