HARARE
–
The
Zimbabwe
National
Students
Union
(ZINASU)
has
added
to
the
growing
demand
for
the
acquittal
and
release
of
Nicole
Chabata,
a
female
O’
Level
student
who
has
been
languishing
at
Chikurubi
Female
Prison
since
her
arrest
June
this
year.
Chabata
is
among
nearly
80
opposition
activists
who
have
been
detained
following
a
police
raid
at
former
Citizens
Coalition
for
Change
(CCC)
senator
Jameson
Timba’s
Avondale
home
in
Harare.
Now
commonly
referred
to
as
the
Avondale-78,
the
activists
had
congregated
to
celebrate
the
Day
of
the
African
Child,
observed
internationally
every
16
June.
In
a
Tuesday
statement,
Zinasu
gender
secretary
Lillian
Tinotenda
Muhwandavaka
said
the
militant
student
rights
group
stands
in
solidarity
with
Chabata
who
is
due
to
sit
for
her
Ordinary
Level
exams
next
month.
Chabata,
who
registered
to
write
10
subjects
under
the
Zimbabwe
School
Examination
Council,
risks
missing
her
chance
to
take
the
exams
due
to
her
continued
incarceration.
“The
actions
taken
on
Nicole
reflect
a
disturbing
trend
of
the
regime
trying
to
silence
young
voices
that
seek
to
promote
social
Justice
and
the
rights
of
women,”
Muhwandavaka
said.
“The
unlawful
arrest
of
Nicole
deprived
her
of
an
opportunity
to
finish
her
2nd
term
and
with
schools
reopening
today
she
won’t
be
attending
school
like
other
students.
“This
undermines
her
educational
journey
simply
because
she
celebrated
the
hope,
resilience
and
the
fundamental
rights
every
child
deserves.
“It
is
disheartening
that
a
student
meant
to
sit
for
her
O’
level
exams
in
a
month
is
going
through
such
an
unjust
conviction.”
The
student
leader
said
Chabata
and
fellow
women
in
prison
were
being
“subjected
to
unnecessary
trauma,
health
conditions
and
institutionalised
personality
traits”.
“We
stand
in
solidarity
with
Nicole
Chabata
and
many
other
females
that
were
arrested
without
committing
any
wrongful
crime
with
the
Avondale
78.
“We
demand
that
these
cases
be
handled
seriously
such
that
Nicole
can
focus
on
her
studies
and
sit
for
upcoming
exams
comfortably,
with
no
weight
of
a
wrongful
conviction.”
The
continued
detention
of
a
secondary
school
student
by
Zimbabwean
authorities
has
become
a
new
rallying
front
for
the
release
of
many
government
critics
who
have
been
jailed
for
their
activism
against
poor
governance
and
injustice
under
the
Zanu
PF
led
system.