UK jails Chinyanga for social media terrorism call...

UK jails Chinyanga for social media terrorism call against Zimbabwean security forces

Zim Now Writer

A Zimbabwean man based in the United Kingdom was on Friday, December 16, sentenced to three years in prison for using social media to promote terrorism.

William Chinyanga, 52, appeared before the Kingston Crown Court that found him guilty of live-streaming numerous speeches on Facebook where he encouraged bombings and attacks on police and soldiers in Zimbabwe and protesting against government.

Leader of the Metropolitan’s Counter Terrorism Command, Richard Smith, said the matter had been brought to the attention of police by a member of the public.

“That person did the right thing, and this case shows that we will follow up on all reports and take action when needed. We would strongly urge anyone who sees anything online which promotes terrorism to report it to police.

“Chinyanga sought to reach as wide an audience as possible when he took to social media to encourage violent action against the current government in his native Zimbabwe.

“Dangerous rhetoric of this nature can and does have harmful real-world consequences,” he said.

Following his December 2019 videos posts, police subsequently swooped on his North London home on February 25, 2020, to effect an arrest. He did not deny his offence. Though he was found guilty of two other counts of encouraging terrorist acts, he was acquitted of those.