The arrest of senior journalist Blessed Mhlanga.
The most blatant assault on press freedoms in the context of the 2030 agenda is the arbitrary
arrest, detention and denial of bail of Blessed Mhlanga, a journalist with Alpha Media Holdings,
which owns Heart and Soul TV. Mhlanga was charged with two counts of contravening Section
164 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly transmitting data messages
that ‘incite violence.’ This was after Blessing, in his capacity as a journalist, interviewing war
veterans and individuals who criticized the 2030 agenda. What makes the arrest arbitrary is the
fact that Blessed himself did not communicate any opinion on the 2030 agenda, nor does he own
the platform which was used to transmit the message. Blessed Mhlanga was simply carrying out
his professional duties as a journalist when he was arrested—yet he has now been held in
custody for 45 days (at the time of publishing this article) without bail, raising serious concerns
over the erosion of press freedom, the violation of his right to a fair trial, and the abuse of pretrial
detention as a tool of intimidation.
“Journalism is merely what it is: transmission of information. If you criminalize transmission of
information, you are definitely coming to the very fabric of what constitutes journalism. It is not
Blessed that has been arrested. What has been arrested and what is in the dock is free expression,
journalism and ultimately constitutionalism” Nigel Nyamutumbu, Media Alliance Coordinator
has commented.
Other attacks on free speech
In addition to the arrest and prolonged detention of Blessed Mhlanga, ZPP recorded several other
human rights violations from across the country perpetrated against citizens who are in
opposition, or perceived to be in opposition to the 2030 agenda. In Gokwe South District, a male
vendor was summoned by state security agents on January 25th for publicly expressing his
opposition to the 2030 agenda. The victim was threatened with expulsion from the farmers
market, where he operates a business. In Gokwe North District, ZPP recorded incidents of
savage assaults on the freedom of expression of people who are in opposition of the 2030
agenda. In Ward 7 of Kabuyuni Constituency, villagers (six males and one female) were forced