Zimbabwe - ThisFlag founder pastor evan mawarire was yesterday granted bail in the face of what was described as a weak State case by High Court Judge Phiri.

Speaking to the press after court, Mawarire’s lawyer Harrison Nkomo said that there is a process to be followed, the court order has to be typed up and all the documentation pertaining to the bail conditions need to be in place before Pastor Evan will be freed.

He anticipated that sometime on Thursday 9 February his client will be out of jail.

During the court proceedings, Mawarire was described as a "celebrity terrorist," for his criticism of the Mugabe government.

However, it was pointed out that in terms of the Zimbabwe Constitution sec 67 that every citizen has the right to challenge the policy of the government.

Zimbabwe High Court terms of bail for Pastor Mawarire

The terms of bail for the pastor whose movement "shut down Zimbabwe" last year with peaceful protests against the introduction of bond notes and import bans include the following provisions:

  • He may not leave the country and must surrender his passport,
  • He must post a $300.00 bail
  • He must report twice a week to the Avondale Police Station in Harare, and
  • May not interfere with other witnesses.

The #ThisFlag movement was born out of an impassioned and spontaneous video that Pastor Evan posted to Youtube the day he realized he could not afford school fees for his children.

Watch the video below:

Movements for change on social media

The various movements for change in Zimbabwe took to social media to fight for good goverance, demand accountability of theft and corruption, and called for 92-year-old President Mugabe to either reform the country or step down. War veterans who fought for Independence from Rhodesian rule joined in the calls for reform and the government responded with a brutal police action that resulted in images of people being beaten and tear-gassed spreading across the globe through main media outlets such as CNN and BBC.

For the first time in a very long time, Zimbabwean activists were getting some world attention to the plight of their once beautiful and robust country.

Pastor Evan traveled to the USA and South Africa

Pastor Evan was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. The original charge was amended to that of attempting to overthrow an elected government, but this was thrown out of court and Mawarire left the country to journey through the USA and South Africa where he urged the diaspora to pressure the government to change from beyond the reach of Zimbabwean Intelligence agencies.

Mawarire returned voluntarily to Zimbabwe on Friday last week and was immediately arrested and detained in Chikurubi Maximum security prison.

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