Zimbabwe judge clears reporter of charges of insulting the head of state

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A Zimbabwean High Court has acquitted a prominent journalist who spent nearly a year on trial over a satirical article critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, her legal team said on Monday.

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Faith Zaba, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, was arrested in July 2025 after publishing a column titled “When You Become a Mafia State” in the newspaper’s satirical muckraker section.

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Prosecutors charged Zaba with undermining Mnangagwa’s authority, alleging the article was intended to incite hostility towards the 83-year-old president.

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The High Court in Harare quashed the charges on Friday, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), which represented Zaba, said.

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The ruling was issued in chambers, and the parties were awaiting the formal written order.

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“The decision gives a lot not just for press freedoms but individual freedoms as well,” ZLHR executive director Bellinda Chinowawa told AFP.

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“The police had overstretched the limits of the law.”

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Zaba said the ruling ended nearly a year of legal proceedings that included her detention at the dreaded Chikurubi maximum security prison on the outskirts of Harare and numerous court appearances.

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“My deepest gratitude to everyone who stood with me, spoke out, prayed, advocated and refused to let me walk alone,” she wrote on X.

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– Using laws to silence dissent –

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Rights groups and opposition parties have accused Mnangagwa’s government of using criminal laws to silence dissent, an allegation it denies.

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Another high-profile journalist, Blessed Mhlanga, was arrested for inciting violence through an interview with a ruling party critic who criticised Mnangagwa and called for his resignation.

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Mhlanga fled to exile after being granted bail.

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Mnangagwa came to power in 2017 after the military ousted long-time dictator Robert Mugabe.

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He was elected president in 2018 and re-elected in 2023, exhausting the two five-year terms permitted under Zimbabwe’s constitution.

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Critics accuse Mnangagwa and his allies of seeking to extend his rule beyond 2028.

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On Thursday, Zimbabwe’s lower house of parliament passed a constitutional amendment bill that would extend the terms of some elected officials and scrap direct presidential elections.

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The bill now heads to the Senate and, if approved, will be sent to Mnangagwa for assent.

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Zimbabwe ranks 124th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, down from 106th a year earlier.

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AFP

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