UPDATE (15 July 2022): English PEN is relieved that the arrest warrant issued for Tsitsi Dangarembga on 27 June 2022 has now been cancelled. The next hearing, at which the decision on the application for discharge is expected, is now scheduled to take place on 4 August 2022. English PEN continues to call for all charges against Tsitsi Dangarembga to be dropped.
Almost two years have now passed since Tsitsi Dangarembga, the winner of the 2021 PEN Pinter Prize, was arrested in Zimbabwe. Dangarembga was taking part in a peaceful protest in Harare on 31 July 2020 when she was arrested. She was held overnight before being charged with incitement to commit violence and for breaching anti-coronavirus health regulations on 1 August 2020 and released on bail.
Nearly two years later, Tsitsi Dangarembga remains on trial. Dangarembga’s lawyer filed for discharge on 13 June 2022, and a ruling is expected on 27 June 2022.
PEN continues to call for all charges to be dropped immediately and unconditionally, and for an end to the ongoing judicial harassment of writers, journalists, and other dissenting voices in Zimbabwe.