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Cape Town – A Chinese man has reportedly become the first person to be fined for selling the Zimbabwean flag without official consent.
According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, the businessman was fined $20 for selling the Zimbabwean flag.
Weidong Li (28) pleaded guilty to contravening the Flag of Zimbabwe Act when he appeared before a Harare magistrate.
A total of 314 flags were seized, the report said.
Zimbabwe last month warned against the production, sale and use of the national flag without official permission after activists turned it into a symbol of anti-government protests.
"Members of the public who participate in any action or activity involving the national flag or bring the national flag into disrepute are warned they are liable to prosecution," an official was quoted in a statement as saying at the time.
She said offenders faced up to a year in jail or a $200 fine – or both.
The national flag became a symbol of anti-government protesters after evangelical pastor Evan Mawarire posted a video in April in which he appeared with the flag wound around his neck as he bemoaned the country’s worsening crisis.
