Harare: Tsitsi Dangarembga, a well-known author from Zimbabwe, was found guilty of inciting violence by holding a nonviolent demonstration calling for political reform and was sentenced to a suspended prison term.

At the Harare magistrates court on Thursday, Dangarembga and co-accused Julie Barnes were found guilty of attending a public gathering with the intent to incite public violence. Additionally, the two were each fined 70,000 Zimbabwean dollars, or $200.

If the two do not commit a similar offence within the next five years, a six-month jail sentence will be suspended.

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In July 2020, Dangarembga was detained for holding a sign that read, "We want better. Reform our institutions" during a nonviolent demonstration. Amnesty International and the writers' organisation PEN International were among the human rights organisations that demanded the charges be dropped.

The Zimbabwean government was urged to "uphold their human rights obligations and desist from persecuting dissenting voices" by PEN, which swiftly denounced the conviction on Thursday.

The magistrate, Barbara Mateko, declared that the state had established beyond a shadow of a doubt that the two had organised a protest with the express purpose of inciting violence.

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Dangarembga, a prize-winning author, blasted the court's ruling and announced she would appeal to the high court.

The Booker Prize nominee for 2020 said to reporters outside court, "We are in a situation where media freedom is not encouraged and those like myself and Julie, my co-accused, who wish to promote freedom of the media, are found to have committed a crime."

This indicates that there is less room for expression and that it is becoming more and more illegal. We do, however, intend to challenge the judgement.

She claimed that Zimbabwe's commitment to free speech was under attack.

"Our citizenship is being transformed into a role where we are subjects rather than active citizens. As far as I'm aware, we are not a monarchy, Dangarembga added.

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Nervous Conditions, the 63-year-old author's debut book, took home the African category's Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1989. In 2020, her book This Mournable Body was considered for the Booker prize.

Dangarembga was detained as part of a broad crackdown on human rights activists by security forces, which also resulted in the detention of reporter Hopewell Chin'ono.

The decision against Dangarembga was "one of the biggest mistakes ever made by [president Emmerson] Mnangagwa's repressive regime, they might not care, but they will regret it," according to Chin'ono on Twitter. Zimbabwe needed the magnificent global spotlight that it has once again received.

Dangarembga has been a vocal opponent of president Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration, which has been charged with corruption and violating human rights.

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There are growing concerns that freedom of expression may be restricted as Zimbabwe prepares for a crucial presidential election the following year.