SADC-related mass arrests result in father loving teen deferring study opportunity

Shattered dreams…Shaun Ndapuwa Timba

The 19-year-old Shaun was one of 79 people  indiscriminately rounded up on 16 June in Harare’s  Avondale suburb by some Zimbabwe Republic  Police officers and charged with disorderly conduct  or in the alternative, participating in a gathering  with intent to promote public violence, breaches of  the peace or bigotry. 

Many of those arrested were at Senator Timba’s  residence to commemorate the Day of the African  Child, which coincided with Father’s Day, an event  Shaun held dear. 

Shaun was later released on bail after five days of  detention in June, before a Harare Magistrate threw  out the charges against him on 4 September 2024. 

Magistrate Collet Ncube ruled that Shaun was not  part of the alleged political activists and agreed that  he was caught in the crossfire while delivering a  present for his father. 

“The fact that Timba is applicant (Shaun)’s father  and that it was Father’s Day adds credibility to  the applicant’s submissions. Clearly, there is  no evidence placed before this court to prove an  element of an offence by the applicant. It is this  court’s considered view that there is no evidence  that a reasonable court could convict and the  applicant is discharged at the close of the state  case,” ruled Magistrate Ncube. 

But the damage had already been done. Shaun has  now been forced to defer his dreams to study abroad  because he could not travel while the criminal case  was ongoing in court. These are some of the hazards  faced by young people as Zimbabwe intensifies its  crackdown against Human Rights Defenders, said  

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR),  which is providing legal representation to Shaun  and some of the Harare residents. 

“As a result of the persecution and prosecution,  Shaun missed the deadline for commencing his  studies outside Zimbabwe on 9 September 2024  and has had to defer his educational exploits,”  complained ZLHR. 

“In Zimbabwe, teenagers such as Ndapuwa Shaun  Timba, the son of Senator Jameson Timba, have to  go through unjustified persecution for three months  for an offence, which they did not commit, only to  be acquitted at the close of the prosecution case,”  said ZLHR. 

Shaun was one of 12 people discharged of all the  crimes they were accused of at the close of the state  case, saying they were caught in the “cross fire”.  Sixty-five others, who include Shaun’s father,  were put to their defence on the charge of unlawful  gathering with intent to promote public violence  and their trial continues at Harare Magistrates  Court. 

“Taking into account that it was a gathering which  attracted people who did not reside at the premises,  also considering that there was pandemonium, it  creates a prima facie case,” said Magistrate Ncube,  ruling against the 65 Harare residents’ application  for discharge at the close of the state case. 

The trial of another person arrested during the same  day is yet to commence as she was severely injured  during the arrest and the procedure of separation  of trial was invoked when she was hospitalised.  Earlier, Magistrate Ncube had acquitted Senator  Timba and the rest of the group of disorderly  conduct in a public place, ruling that the former  opposition legislator’s residence is not a public  place and the charge falls off as it cannot stand.” 

Senator Timba and the other Harare residents  remain in detention fighting to be released on bail  as trial on the unlawful gathering charges continues  at Harare Magistrates Court.

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