Zimbabwe opposition figure Job Sikhala to be freed after getting 2-year suspended sentence

Zimbabwean opposition figure Job Sikhala will soon walk a free man.

A court on Tuesday (Jan. 30) handed the lawyer a 2-year suspended sentence for inciting public violence.

The court ruled to free the activist who has spent nearly 600 days in pre-trial detention.

The politician was detained in June 2022 following the killing of an opposition activist Moreblessing Ali.

The former MP was accused of encouraging supporters to violently react to the murder of Ali.

Sikhala was convicted of inciting public violence on Jan.24 in Harare.

He had denied the charge.

His lawyer said Tuesday that he would appeal against the conviction.

51-year-old Sikhala was kept in the Chikurubi maximum prison in Harare which houses Zimbabwe's most dangerous criminals.

Former opposition parliament member Godfrey Sithole with whom Sikhala was convicted and charged was handed the same sentence.