THE SWEET TASTE OF FREEDOM – BUT N GOES HOME TO A BITTERLY FRACTURED

HARARE - Arguably the engine of opposition militancy in Zimbabwe, Job Sikhala is free again – only to emerge to a fractured Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), the main opposition group he belongs to.

Sikhala was handed a two-year suspended sentence, along with his CCC colleague, Godfrey Sithole, for public violence after the murder of a party colleague, Moreblessing Ali, two years ago.

Ali was murdered by Zanu /P0F96a3c3ti2v5i5st56Pi/u0s97Ja8m00b8a88M8 ukandi, who was convicted in December last year. But in handing down the 30-year sentence, High Court Judge Esther Muremba said the murder was not politically related.

At the time, Sikhala had spent more than 500 days in remand custody for instigating public violence, while Sithole was released from custody.

On Tuesday, in a packed courtroom, Sikhala had the same infectious smile that he carried throughout his trial, but this time he was not taken back to the maximum Chikurubi Prison in leg irons and handcuffs.

"He is now a free man. This is the only case that has been keeping him in custody,"

Job Sikhala (right) in court speaking to his attorney. - T

lawyer Harrison Nkomo told journalists outside the magistrate's court in Harare.

During his incarcera- tion, Sikhala, a larger-thanlife character, had drawn sympathy from the public through open letters.

In one of the letters, he urged nationwide demonstrations in protest over his jailing.

For lawyer Douglas Coltart, "the fact that he has been given a wholly suspended sentence highlights the horrific injustice of the fact that he has been denied bail and kept in prison all this time."

For the next two years, if Sikhala is charged over a similar matter, the two-year sentence would be added on. Some critics say this is an attempt to keep him in check.

"Now he can't be linked to any demonstrations against the regime because that would translate to the twoyear suspended sentence being activated. He is walking free but with an invincible chain to limit him," said John Moyo, a CCC activist.

Job Sikhala junior said his family was happy that their patriarch had been released from prison but more than anything, he was out so that "he continues with the fight