Obey Shava
Zimbabwe
Mr Shava, of Shava Law Chambers and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), is a highly effective and well-respected human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe, well-known for defending human rights and political activists facing judicial harassment. He is currently involved in key electoral cases ahead of Zimbabwe’s August 2023 elections. He is also outspoken on human rights and governance issues on social media. He was one of the lawyers representing opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leaders Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova, when they faced charges of ‘publishing false statements prejudicial to the state’ for reporting their abduction and ill-treatment after a protest in May 2020. When Mr Shava was accompanying them to the police station to comply with
their bail reporting conditions on 31 July 2020, he and his clients were harassed, his client was assaulted, and his clients were arrested. When Mamombe and Chimbiri were acquitted on 4 July 2023, he re-posted about this past incident with a video on his Twitter account.