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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
The trial of Sunday Mail editor Mabasa Sasa, investigations editor Brian Chitemba and reporter Tinashe Farawo, accused of communicating falsehoods, failed to proceed yesterday and the three were further remanded pending a determination of their urgent chamber application at the High Court.
Sasa, Chitemba and Farawo yesterday appeared before Mr Tendai Mahwe. Their lawyer, Advocate Fadzayi Mahere, advised the court that her clients had approached the High Court for a review of the court’s ruling on their application for discharge.
The trio had their application for discharge at the close of the State case dismissed by Mr Mahwe.
Having lost the application, the trio then filed an application for review at the High Court.
While that application was pending, they filed an urgent chamber application seeking a stay of the criminal trial at the magistrates court.
The two applications are yet to be determined.
Advocate Mahere said: “We have approached the High Court for an urgent chamber application for stay of proceedings pending hearing and determination of the application for review. The application was filed on Friday. We expect the matter to be set down any day and we propose the matter be postponed to September 14 so that continuation can be guided by the High Court.”
The trio is facing charges of communicating or publishing false statements prejudicial to the State.
It is alleged that following the killing of 22 elephants by poachers using suspected cyanide poison, the accused published a story headlined “Top cop fingered in poaching saga”.
It is alleged the three knew that no assistant commissioner of the police was being investigated for such a crime.
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