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Court Reporters
OPPOSITION politician and organiser of the planned July 31 mass protests Jacob Ngarivhume and political activist Hopewell Chin’ono yesterday appeared before the Harare Magistrates’ Courts charged with scheming against the Government.
The pair is being accused of conspiring to mobilise anti-Government protests planned for July 31.
They appeared before different magistrates and their bail hearing will continue today.
In both cases, the prosecution is opposing bail.
Chin’ono and Ngarivhume were charged with incitement to commit public violence or alternatively incitement to participate in a gathering with the intent to promote public violence by posting messages through their Tweeter handles between March 1 and July 20, 2020.
Ngarivhume appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Trynois Utahwashe.
It is alleged that while in Harare city centre, Ngarivhume posted numerous messages on Twitter in an attempt to influence many people to engage in public violence or participate in a gathering that would disturb peace.
In some of the messages he said he had also met and consulted different stakeholders while mobilising for the demonstration.
Ngarivhume alleged in the messages that he had met with people such as Mr Ian Makone, Dr Shingi Munyeza, Mr Elton Mangoma and Godfrey Tsenengamu as part of mobilising people.
Messrs Michael Reza and Jonathan Murombedzi appeared for the State while Mr Moses Nkomo represented Ngarivhume.
Chin’ono appeared before magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna facing similar charges of posting other messages on his Twitter handle @daddyhope.
Prosecutor Whisper Mabhaudhi said Chin’ono was not a proper candidate for bail arguing that he was likely to abscond since he had contacts outside the country through his profession.
“The accused person has contacts with the outside world. He can easily abscond and settle in any part of the world of his own choice. There is reasonable fear that with our porous borders where people can easily cross on foot or other means, one can easily go out,” he said.
He argued that Chin’ono sought to destroy evidence and jeopardise investigations by shutting down his Twitter accounts when he was arrested.
Mr Mabhaudhi said there was technical evidence that the Twitter handle belonged to Chin’ono.
He said the serious one was that if Chin’ono was to be released he was going to endanger the safety of the public as a result of the messages that he had been posting, inciting them to participate in the demonstration especially during this Covid-19 pandemic.
He said Chin’ono had also been inciting people that July 31 was not going to be a one-day event but only the beginning and hence was not a candidate for bail since a lot of lives would be lost as a result of the pandemic taking into consideration that there was not treatment yet.
“The advice by the World Health Organisation (WHO) talks of social distance and what the accused person was posting does not even take that into consideration. This is not a Zimbabwean, it’s a world issue. It’s a matter of life and death. Businesses, which are supposed to be making money have closed down.
“Government has scaled down operations and people are being paid while at home. Even the courts are operating with skeletal staff as a result of the pandemic,” said Mr Mabhaudhi.
He added: “The accused is said to be an award winning journalist but what he is chanting at the moment is endangering the lives of the people. If released, he is likely to commit further offences.”
Earlier on, a team of lawyers headed by Ms Beatrice Mtetwa represented Chin’ono had raised complaints against the police against their client when he was arrested.
Magistrate Nduna then ordered the State to conduct a three-day investigation into those complaints and furnish the courts with the details by Monday.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter