HIGH COURT Judge Justice Gibson Mandaza has set free Blessed Mhlanga, a prominent journalist, who had spent more than 70 days in prison, after Zimbabwean authorities arrested and prosecuted him on criminal charges related to interviewing Blessed Runesu Geza, a perceived adversary of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had been critical of mooted manoeuvres to extend the ruling ZANU PF political party leader’s tenure beyond the constitutional two-term limit.
The 44 year-old Mhlanga, who was represented by Advocate Thabani Mpofu, assisted by Advocate Nyasha Zhou and instructed by Chris Mhike of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, had spent 71 days in both police and prison detention after Zimbabwe Republic Police officers arrested him on 24 February 2025 and charged him with transmitting data messages with the intention of inciting violence as defined in section 164 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
On Tuesday 6 May 2025, Justice Mandaza granted US$500 bail to Mhlanga after ruling that there were now changed circumstances, which justify the release of the senior journalist from prison.
Justice Mandaza ordered Mhlanga to report at a local police station once a week on Friday and to surrender his passport to the Clerk of Court at Harare Magistrates Court and barred him from interfering with state witnesses.
Mhlanga’s release came after he petitioned the High Court appealing against the dismissal of his bail application by Harare Magistrate Donald Ndirowei, who on 7 April 2025 dismissed Mhlanga’s application for bail, after ruling that there were no changed circumstances to warrant his release from prison and that the state had made significant progress in investigating his case to an extent that prosecutors were ready to furnish him with a trial date hence releasing him on bail when such significant progress has been made would not be in the interests of justice.
Mhlanga’s latest appeal at the High Court was the fourth one after judicial officers at Harare Magistrates Court and at Harare High Court had on three occasions dismissed his applications and an appeal to be released from prison on bail pending trial thereby condemning him to be detained for more than two months at Harare Remand Prison.
According to prosecutors, Mhlanga, a senior journalist at Heart and Soul Broadcasting Services (HSTV), owned by Alpha Media Holdings, allegedly acted unlawful when he reportedly recorded a video of Geza, a former ZANU PF central committee member and a liberation war veteran, and reportedly made it available to members of the public by transmitting and broadcasting it on YouTube, a social media and online video sharing platform and on HSTV, a digital content service provider and distributor, with the intention of inciting people to commit undisclosed acts of violence.
Mhlanga returns to court on 14 May 2025, where his trial is scheduled to commence.
ENDS
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