Booker-longlisted author freed on bail after arrest in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga has been released on bail, following her arrest last week in Harare, during anti-government demonstration.

She has been ordered to return to court on 18th September, charged with incitement to commit violence, and breaching coronavirus health and safety regulations, after staging a demonstration in the capital city last week.

Dangarembga was arrested alongside Fadzayi Mahere, a spokeswoman for the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, the government's main opposition party. Police and armed soldiers were reportedly enforcing an aggressive strategy ahead of scheduled anti-corruption demonstrations according to the Guardian

Longlisted for this year's Booker Prize forThis Mournable Body (Faber), Dangarembga has said she was arrested after tweeting about the arrest of journalists in Zimbabwe, adding: “Friends, here is a principle. If you want your suffering to end, you have to act. Action comes from hope. This the principle of faith and action.”

Louise Joyner, associate publisher at Faber, tweeted: "Our wonderful author has been arrested - this is something she as feared increasingly from a repressive government as she has protested their actions. Please show your support and make this injustice as visible as possible."

The measures are thought to be part of a crackdown against protests regarding hiked prices and accusations of corruption at government level.

A statement issued by the publisher said: "We at Faber are deeply concerned by the arrest of our author Tsitsi Dangarembga in Zimbabwe and will continue to monitor the situation. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Tsitsi."