HARARE magistrate Apollonia Marutya yesterday relaxed the bail conditions for Zimbabwe Independent Editor, Faith Zaba, who is facing a charge of undermining President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Under reviewed bail conditions, Zaba will report to the police once every fortnight, not every Friday.
Zaba and the publisher, Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), represented by editor-in-chief, Kholwani Nyathi, are being charged with undermining the authority of or insulting the President under section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
The charge stems from a Muckraker column published in the Zimbabwe Independent in June.
The decision to relax bail conditions comes after trial failed to commence at recent court session due to a procedural error on the part of the State.
Prosecutor Lawrence Gangarahwe unexpectedly applied for a postponement, admitting that the authority letter provided to the defence was not issued by the Prosecutor-General as required by law, but was instead signed by the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe chief director.
The State requested a two-week adjournment to obtain a proper certificate from Prosecutor-General Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo.
However, defence lawyer Chris Mhike, representing Zaba and AMH, strongly objected, accusing the State of dishonesty and employing delaying tactics in violation of the constitutional rights of the accused.
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Mhike argued that the document was “highly dubious”, pointing to several irregularities.
He noted that the letter was dated October 20, but bore a date stamp of October 30 — a discrepancy he said indicated either recklessness or deliberate deception.
The defence maintains that the arrest is an attack on Press freedom, arguing that the column in question constitutes satire and opinion, which are protected by the law.
They contended that the allegations did not disclose an offence and that the State’s witness documents failed to support the claim that the article was intended to undermine the President.
The State alleges that the June 27 column, titled When we become a mafia State, which cited Zimbabwe’s alleged interference in neighbouring countries’ politics and claimed the government was “obsessed with keeping itself in power”, was meant to engender hostility towards Mnangagwa.
The case is set to resume on December 3.
