Benjamin Freeth,
MBE (born c. 1971) is a
white Zimbabwean farmer and human rights activist from the district of
Chegutu in
Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe. Together with his father-in-law,
Mike Campbell, he rose to international prominence after 2008 for suing the regime of
Zimbabwean President
The president of Zimbabwe is the head of state of Zimbabwe and head of the executive branch of the government of Zimbabwe. The president chairs the national cabinet and is the chief commanding authority of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
The inc ...
Robert Mugabe for violating rule of law and human rights in Zimbabwe. Freeth and Campbell's lawsuit against the Mugabe regime—''the case of
Mike Campbell (Pvt) Ltd and Others v Republic of Zimbabwe
''Mike Campbell (Pvt) Ltd et al. v. Republic of Zimbabwe'' is a case decided by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal (hereinafter "the Tribunal"). The Tribunal held that the Zimbabwean government violated the organisation ...
''—was chronicled in the award-winning 2009 documentary film ''
Mugabe and the White African
''Mugabe and the White African'' is a 2009 documentary film by Lucy Bailey & Andrew Thompson and produced by David Pearson & Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock. It has won many awards including the Grierson 2010 and been BAFTA and Emmy Nominated. The film ...
''.
Background
Freeth was born in
Sittingbourne, England, United Kingdom, the son of a British military family. After the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980, the family relocated to the country where Freeth's father had been hired by the Zimbabwean government to set up a new staff training college for the newly established national army. Freeth attended
Aiglon College and went on to study at the
Royal Agricultural College in Gloucestershire, England. He then returned to Zimbabwe and married Laura Campbell, the daughter of
White African farmer Mike Campbell and his wife Angela. The Freeths built a house on the Campbells' Mount Carmel estate in Chegutu and Freeth eventually became an official with the Commercial Farmers' Union. The couple have three children.
During the early-1970s, Campbell, a