Tsitsi Dangarembga, a renowned author, had a conviction against her reversed by Zimbabwe’s High Court.

A magistrate had claimed that Ms. Dangarembga’s holding a sign asking for political reform could have disturbed the calm resulted in her being found guilty of inciting violence last year.

She paid a fee and was given a six-month sentence with probation.

The reason for the revised verdict is unknown, but according to AFP, judges believed it had been reached in error.

Additionally, Ms. Dangarembga’s attorney informed the AFP news agency that of his client “no offence was committed in the first place.”

At the time, Ms Dangarembga pleaded not guilty in a trial that critics said was a sign of a government crackdown on dissent.

“The space for freedom of expression and freedom of the media is shrinking and increasingly criminalised,” Ms Dangarembga told the BBC at the time.

After Robert Mugabe’s longtime authoritarian regime, President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised improvements when he assumed office in 2017, but detractors claim little has changed.

A senior opposition MP was just found guilty of obstructing justice last week. The guilty decision against Job Sikhala prevents him from running in the next July or August presidential and legislative elections. His trial, according to some, was politically motivated.

Ms. Dangarembga posted a picture of herself grinning outside the High Court with what appear to be her solicitors and was found guilty along with her friend Julie Barnes, who was also exonerated.

One of the most well-known writers in Zimbabwe is Ms. Dangarembga. Her book This Mournable Body made the 2020 Booker Prize shortlist.- BBC