Posted on October 6, 2020 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Tsitsi Dangarembga’s fellow writers are speaking out in support of her and urging Zimbabwean officials to drop the charges she faces.
Dangarembga, whose latest work is on this year’s Booker Prize shortlist, was charged with intention to incite public violence; she had been arrested during anti-corruption protests at the end of July and released on bail in August.
A hearing in the case has been twice delayed after prosecutors did not appear on the scheduled dates, according to the Guardian, and is currently set for Wednesday.
Ahead of that appearance, several prominent writers — including Kazuo Ishiguro, Carol Ann Duffy, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Philippe Sands — have demanded that Dangarembga be acquitted in full.
The author of This Mournable Body “is entitled to be a peaceful protester, to assemble and express her views, entirely free from fear of arrest or persecution,” said Sands, who’s also the president of English PEN.
“That is her right under the law of Zimbabwe and international law. All charges should be dropped immediately, she must be allowed to walk free. Now. Anything else is an outrage.”
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Categories: Today in Books