Zimbabwe judge orders protesting pastor to be freed on bail

HARARE, Zimbabwe – A Zimbabwean judge has ordered that a pastor arrested for organizing anti-government protests be freed on bail.

Judge Clement Phiri said Wednesday that Evan Mawarire should be released on $300 bail, surrender his passport and report twice a week to police.

Mawarire has been detained since Friday at a maximum-security prison in the capital, Harare, on charges of subverting a constitutionally elected government. He faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

Mawarire was arrested at Harare's airport when he returned from the United States, where he had gone following his arrest and release in July.

In Zimbabwe, the pastor had launched the popular #ThisFlag protest movement on social media. While in the United States, he organized protests against the Zimbabwean government at United Nations headquarters in New York.