Tsitsi Dangarembga is wrongly on trial, criticizes the authors' association PEN. For Vice President Cornelia Zetzsche, the indictment is clearly politically motivated.
Cornelia Zetzsche, Vice President and PEN Germany Writers-in-Prison Officer
DW: Tsitsi Dangarembga has expressed disappointment that the trial against her is continuing. Was she too optimistic?
Cornelia Zetzsche: No, here in Zimbabwe everyone knows that you have to reckon with everything. Your lawyer exuded a lot of optimism because he wanted to encourage others. But the law of autocracies is arbitrary. And the same goes for the court. So everything was open. I still got the feeling that she was extremely disappointed. You don't see it so well behind the mask, the glasses, the hat. She says she laughed bitterly about it, but disappointment is of course justified. After 29 days of negotiation you're just worn down.
The allegations against Dangarembga are on the table – the most serious: public incitement to violence, breach of the peace and bigotry. Because she exercised her right to demonstrate?
It's not so much about the right to demonstrate, but about what was on the signs. And it said: “for the release of journalists, for reforms, for a better Zimbabwe”. This is allegedly a breach of the peace, i.e. an indication of incitement to violence, based on the – also falsified – evidence and false statements in previous negotiations. And the judge, who is part of the Anti-Corruption Court, which reports directly to the President's office, followed the prosecution in everything. She then gives the defense the opportunity to present their witnesses and evidence again on August 10.
A peaceful protest is criminalized here. This is completely absurd and has nothing to do with our understanding of independent jurisdiction. It is perfectly clear that the two accused (the journalist Julie Barnes is on trial with Tsitsi Dangaremga, editor's note) are to be worn down. That the opposition should be discouraged at all so that they stay out of the country.
Charged with the demands on their Protest posters: the author Tsitsi Dangarembga in Zimbabwe
“A thorn in the side of the government”
The allegations do not really fit the author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga, the winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. What does it stand for?
As a writer, she stands for a critical view of her country. And not only on the governing party, but also on the population. Her books are about women, some of whom themselves become collaborators in this system that is destroying them. Dangarembga reflects the country very critically in her novels. As a citizen, she is also very critical of the governing party Zanu PF, which is of course a thorn in her side.
You accompanied the process in Harare for the German PEN and described it as a political process . What makes you so sure?
Makes me sure that there is no separation of powers. That she is before an anti-corruption court, even though none of the charges have anything to do with corruption. That this anti-corruption court reports directly to the presidential office and that this president has elections next year and has long since eliminated not only Tsitsi Dangarembga but many of his other critics.
Zimbabwe stands, as you say, before the elections. The political situation in the country has been tense for many years, as has the economic situation. Does this affect this process?
Yes, I think it has the effect that the interest of the population is relatively low. The population has no time to worry about freedom of expression. If there is 90 percent unemployment here, if the education system, the medical system, if everything is ailing, then it's a matter of survival. And that definitely has an impact. The laws are also becoming more and more rigid. The retention of power for next year is already being prepared here.
Together in court: the journalist Juli Barnes (l.) and the author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga
“Prison would be the worst option”
Did you appear as an observer of the German PEN center somehow impressed the authorities?
Dangarembga's celebrity status sure matters, and I hope my presence has helped. I'm not only there for PEN, I'm supported by the German Book Trade Association, by your two publishers, by the International Publishers Association. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation was there. So it was already a big presence. There was a huge crowd in front of the court, mostly made up of photojournalists. I do believe that this can have an effect. We don't know for sure.
The trial is scheduled to continue on August 10th with the hearing of defense witnesses. How does the 63-year-old bear it? In the end, there was a possibility of jail.
That would be the worst of all variants. My impression is that this process is simply being dragged on, that people are simply trying to keep them out of the country as much and as long as possible. It's hard to say exactly how she endures it. On the one hand, she didn't seem surprised, but I think that's due to her tremendous self-discipline. She sees herself as a citizen of her country. She always stands up for her country, which she loves. And she knows that if she and other intellectuals leave too, it will be completely ruined.
Stefan Dege spoke to Cornelia Zetszsche (currently Harare).