Zimbabweans found guilty of watching Arab Spring videos

CNN News, by the CNN Wire Staff, March 19, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The men face six to 10 years in prison or a $2,000 fine when sentenced Tuesday
• Forty six people were arrested for watching a video on Egypt and Tunisia protests
• Critics have called the charges politically motivated
• Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980

(CNN) -- Six Zimbabweans arrested last year for watching footage of the Arab Spring protests were found guilty of conspiracy to commit public violence Monday, according to the wife of one of the men.

The men face six to 10 years in prison or a $2,000 fine when they are sentenced in a Harare court Tuesday, Shantha Bloemen said.

The six were among 46 people arrested on February 19, 2011, during an academic meeting where a video on the events in Tunisia and Egypt were shown.

Police eventually released 40 of the attendees, but charged the rest with treason or attempt to overthrow the government by unconstitutional means. Those charges were later altered to conspiracy to commit public violence.

The government has said the six were plotting an Egyptian-style uprising in the southern African country. Critics have called the charges politically motivated.

The defendants were allegedly watching video footage of protests that led to the ouster of presidents Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 87, is not unlike the toppled leaders.

He has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 and has been accused of rigging elections and instituting repressive laws to tighten his grip on power.

The arrests may be an indication authorities are worried the winds of change sweeping across north Africa may inspire Zimbabweans to rise up.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, which is in a troubled unity government with Mugabe's ZANU-PF, has called the arrests "an abuse of state machinery by ZANU-PF to suppress the people's views."

Mugabe has called for new elections but his political rival and leader of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai, has threatened to boycott the poll if a referendum on a new constitution is not held.

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