KEY FINDINGS AND
MITIGATION MEASURES
Suppression of Freedom of Expression
C i t i z e n s C o a l i t i o n f o r C h a n g e ( CCC )
spokesperson Advocate Fadzayi Mahere was
convicted on charges of publishing falsehoods
prejudicial to the State by Regional Magistrate
Taurai Manuwere after a full trial on the 5th of
April. Mahere allegedly tweeted that a batonwielding police officer enforcing COVID-19
lockdown regulations had fatally struck a child
strapped on the mother’s back in Harare. This
came after a video of the incident went viral in
2020.
Mahere was found guilty of communicating
falsehoods after she posted the video on Twitter.
In the viral video, a visibly wailing woman was
tussling with a uniformed police officer holding a
motionless baby in her hands claiming the
policeman had killed her baby after he struck her
with a baton stick. The ZRP refuted the claim and
said the child was not killed and Mahere was
found guilty of publishing falsehoods
undermining the police and fined US$500. The
conviction of Mahere follows a two-year long
trial on a law that no longer exists on law
statutes in Zimbabwe.
Journalist and filmmaker Hopewell Chin’ono,
represented by Harrison Nkomo, was once
charged under the same law. Chin’ono
successfully challenged the charge in the High
Court on the basis that the law being used did
not exist. Mahere was charged under section 31
of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform)
Act , with publishing or communicating
falsehoods in 2021. The provision was declared
void by the Constitutional Court in 2014. This
was confirmed by a High Court decision in Case
No. HC 845/21, which declared that there was
no offence called publishing or communicating
false statements prejudicial to the State under
Zimbabwean law which is binding on the
Magistrates Court.
The conviction of Mahere is an assault on
freedom of expression and a ploy to silence
dissent. The Magistrates Court in this case
should have taken note of the decisions of the
higher courts and acquitted her. CCC Member
of Parliament (MP) for Zengeza West Job
Sikhala is also currently on trial for two offences,
namely obstructing the course of justice and
inciting public violence. Job Sikhala was arrested
on the 14th of June 2022 on charges of
obstructing the course of justice and has spent
more than 11 months in pretrial detention. He
was convicted on 3rd of May 2023 and given a
wholly suspended 6-month sentence with the
option of paying US$600 fine or spending 6
months in jail. However, Sikhala will remain in
custody, even if he paid the fine, as he awaits
THE ZIMBABWE PEACE PROJECT MONTHLY MONITORING REPORT | APRIL 2023
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