HARARE – Zanu PF activist Sybeth Musengezi, who came into the public spotlight after launching a bold challenge against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s legitimacy in 2021, was Thursday granted US$100 bail following his Wednesday arrest and court appearance for alleged assault.
Musengezi, 40, appeared before Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo and was not asked to plead.
He was remanded to April 30 for trial.
Musengezi is accused of assaulting an airtime vendor, Norest Taruberekere after he allegedly stormed the activist’s press conference.
Taruberekera told Moyo that he was chasing after his colleague who ran into the Media Centre, venue for the disrupted press briefing, after snatching his airtime recharge card.
The said vendor said his colleague ran up the stairs to the second floor where Musengezi was holding the press conference.
“The accused person then asked me what I wanted and he assaulted me with open hands on my face.
“I then stopped and asked why he was assaulting me but instead, he told his friends to take videos of our altercation,” Taruberekera said.
Musengezi, a presumed ally of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, had organised the media briefing where, according to a flier circulated prior to the event, he had sought to speak on the “The State of the economy (massive unemployment, corruption, poor state of the informal sector etc)”.
But he could hardly do the press briefing after two men wearing some green aprons and covering their faces gate-crashed the event, pulled down his banners and forced the activist out of the Media Centre in a scene witnessed by journalists who had come to cover him.
A group of police officers immediately joined in to force Musengezi out and onto their truck that waited outside.
