Zimbabwe—Church groups in Zimbabwe have deplored as “a blatant example of gross injustice,” the jail term imposed by the country’s parliament on opposition lawmaker Roy Bennett, now serving a hard-labour sentence and living in a cramped cell with 38 criminals. Bennett represents the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the Chimanimani constituency near Zimbabwe’s border with Mozambique. He began one year in prison on 28 October after being sentenced without a court trial, for a scuffle involving another legislator.

The 47-year-old farmer was convicted by a parliamentary disciplinary committee of contempt of parliament following the 18 May 2004 fracas after which he issued a strong apology. He is the first Zimbabwean legislator to be jailed. He was accused of assaulting Justice Minister and ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) legislator Patrick Chinamasa during a parliamentary debate. Chinamasa called Bennett’s European ancestors “thieves and murderers” as a taunt for the loss of his farm.

Bennett bought his farm after Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain and in accordance with the country’s laws, South Africa’s Argus newspaper reported. During the seizure of his farm by a government-supported gang calling themselves independence war veterans, one worker was murdered, others were beaten and tortured, and two girls were raped. The only person convicted of these crimes was later granted a presidential pardon. Later a court said the farm should be returned to Bennett. The lawmaker’s trial committee was made up of two MPs each from Zanu-PF and the MDC and a chief appointed by President Robert Mugabe. It sentenced Bennett to 15 months imprisonment with hard labour and suspended three months on condition of good behaviour. Only the government legislators voted to jail Bennett, who represents a rural constituency. “We believe his sentence to be totally disproportionate to the incident,” Churches together for Justice and Peace said in a statement on 19 December. The statement followed a similar petition by churches in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland province condemning Bennett’s plight. His lawyer said jailers handcuffed him and forced him to kneel on the concrete floor during a visit and he was only recently allowed to wear a hat while working outside in the summer heat. His cell is lice-infested and the inmates sleep on the floor with a single blanket each.

Bennett is serving his jail term at Mutoko prison about 150 kilometres north-east of Harare. “We regard him as a prisoner of conscience imprisoned for his stand as a popular opposition MP in a rural constituency,” the churches for justice and peace group said. “We fully endorse the statement made recently by churches in Manicaland in his support,” said the church group. “We view Roy Bennett as being a representative of all those who have been detained without trial through the abuse of the legal system and all those who are being held in subhuman condition in jails and holding cells across the country.”

Stringent laws controlling media in Zimbabwe prevent effective reporting in the country.