HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean pastor Evan Mawarire was charged Wednesday with attempting to overthrow a constitutionally elected government for organizing a nationwide strike which shut the country down last week.
The public gallery was packed with Mawarire’s supporters who laughed in derision when the prosecutor announced the new charges, which are more serious than the initial charge of inciting public violence that Mawarire faced upon his arrest Tuesday.
The new charges could bring 20 years in prison. Mawarire remained in custody while a ruling was pending on whether he had been taken to court illegally.
Dozens of his supporters inside the court and hundreds outside it, many wearing the Zimbabwe flag, were singing in defiance. Activists also chanted slogans and prayed.
Riot police and water cannons and riot police surrounded the Harare Magistrates Court to prevent protests over the court appearance.
Mawarire came to prominence with a social media campaign called #ThisFlag in which he urges Zimbabweans to reclaim their flag by urging President Robert Mugabe’s government to properly manage the country’s battered economy.
Many people answered Mawarire’s call on social media last week for a job boycott to protest dismal economic conditions. It was the largest such boycott in Zimbabwe in nearly a decade.
Another boycott had been called for Wednesday, but the response appeared muted. The government has warned organizers of further protests that “they will face the full wrath of the law.”
