Munyaradzi Gwisai

Who is Munyaradzi Gwisai?

Munyaradzi Gwisai is a Zimbabwean politician and general coordinator of the International Socialist Organization in Zimbabwe. He was a member of the parliament on a ticket of the Movement for Democratic Change from 2000 until he was expelled from the MDC in 2002 and lost the subsequent by-election.

In February 2011, Gwisai and 45 others were arrested after watching video footage of the Arab Spring at a public meeting and were charged with treason, which carries the death penalty in Zimbabwe. Gwisai's wife, Shantha Bloemen, claims "the strategy of the regime at the moment is to stall it for as long as possible for propaganda value, to instill fear in people." The move has been condemned by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.