A High Court judge in Zimbabwe on Wednesday adjourned the case of a journalist arrested over his interviews with a war veteran-turned-politician who criticized the country’s president.
Blessed Mhlanga, a journalist with NewsDay and Heart and Soul Television, has been in custody since Feb. 24 over accusations of incitement.
Lawyers for the journalist had requested that he be bailed out, but at a hearing in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, Justice Gibson Mandaza requested more time to examine the case.
Chris Mhike, who represents Mhlanga, told VOA he was waiting for the High Court to announce when the case would resume.
Mhike said it would be “improper” to go into the arguments because the case was active but said the judge “indicated that it was necessary for him to consider the issues that are at stake.”
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Mhike said the arrest of Mhlanga sent a chilling message.
The arrest is related to his interviews with war veteran and politician Blessed Geza in November and January, in which Geza said that he would mobilize public protests to push President Emmerson Mnangagwa out of office, citing economic issues and what he called the president’s failure to govern.
On Friday, Geza was expelled from the Zanu PF party for what the party described as violating regulations in public comments about the president.
Mhike said he believed his client’s arrest served as a warning to others to refrain from discussing political topics, such as whether Mnangagwa should seek a third term. Zimbabwean presidents serve five-year terms, which are renewable once.
Mhlanga’s arrest “has had a chilling effect on the practice of journalism, as is always the case when journalists are either harassed, or put through the legal process, really for activities that are directly linked to their work,” Mhike told VOA.
It is “worrisome to many in the journalistic fraternity,” he added. “This has been the impact, and this has been my client’s position: that he is being tormented purely on grounds of him carrying out his work as a journalist.”
Mhlanga, who faces two charges relating to “transmitting of data messages inciting violence or damage to property,” denies the charges against him.
Mhike said his client’s arrest also could be unconstitutional. Zimbabwe’s Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information, and entitles citizens to freedom of the press.
Farai Marapira, the Zanu PF information director, said he expected courts to preside fairly over the case.
“I believe people should allow the court process to pursue this matter as it is designed to find out what are the material facts of the matter, and I’m sure the courts will deal fairly with this issue,” Marapira said.
Marapira also said Mhlanga’s arrest was not a reflection of the state of press freedom in the country.
“People write about Zanu PF every day — people write positively, people write negatively, some even write and insult Zanu PF,” he said.
Marapira then rhetorically asked aloud: “Who is dead? No one is dead. So, what are they fearing for their lives from? Where is the example? Where are the examples of killed journalists? So, like I said, this is all overexcitement.”
The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said that conditions for journalists have improved since the end of longtime leader Robert Mugabe’s rule. But, it noted in its press freedom index, media have faced greater persecution since the 2023 election.
In the past two years, journalists have been blocked or harassed while covering events and briefly detained and assaulted, media groups said.
Mhlanga himself has had a previous brush with the law. In 2022, he and his colleague Chengeto Chidi were arrested for taking photos of the police during the arrest of an opposition lawmaker.
In his latest case, international and local media rights organizations have condemned Mhlanga’s arrest and urged the Zimbabwean government to drop all charges against him.
(VOA)
