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A prominent Zimbabwean journalist was detained yesterday over a satirical article critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in a charge media groups decried was another attack on freedom of expression.
Faith Zaba, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, is the latest journalist to be charged in court over what the government claimed undermined the authority of 82-year-old Mnangagwa, reports AFP.
Prosecutors said Zaba, 55, published the article titled “When you become mafia state” under the muckraker column of the weekly tabloid.
“The contents of the article are false in material and designed to engender feelings of hostility by the citizens of Zimbabwe towards the president,” said prosecutor Takudzwa Jambawu.
A magistrate’s court in the capital Harare ordered Zaba detained until today, when it will rule on bail.
Her lawyer Chris Mhike said it was disappointing she was spending a second night in jail despite having an illness.
Rights campaigners and media groups have said Zimbabwe, a multi-party democracy, has in recent years stepped up a crackdown on civil society and weaponised the law to silence government critics.
A journalist who interviewed a critic of Mnangagwa calling for his resignation was arrested in February and held in jail for more than 70 days on accusation the broadcast incited violence.
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists said it was “deeply disturbed by the criminalisation of journalism” and called for Zaba’s immediate release.
“Satirical commentary, whether critical or humorous, is protected speech and should not be criminalised,” it said in a statement.
The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe also echoed the calls, saying the arrest reflected how press freedom was “becoming more and more disrespected”.
Amnesty International said the arrest was part of a pattern to use the justice system to stifle the free press.
“Journalism is not a crime. Authorities must allow journalists to carry out their work freely, safely and without fear of harassment, intimidation or reprisals,” the group’s southern Africa researcher Khanyo Farise said in a statement.
Zimbabwe is ranked 106th out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.
