In Zimbabwe, the EU noted in 2021 that human rights violations and attacks on democracy are persistent issues, expressing particular concern about a “proliferation of arrests and prosecutions of journalists, opposition actors and individuals expressing dissenting views.”
TrialWatch has monitored two cases in Zimbabwe, in one of which the defendant’s lawyer was threatened to be charged with ‘contempt of the court’ for criticizing the government’s prosecution of her defendant.
International pressure, including a statement by TrialWatch, may have contributed to those charges not ultimately being brought.
