PROMINENT journalist, Blessed Mhlanga, has pleaded not guilty to charges of transmitting data messages with the intention of inciting violence, as his high stakes trial commenced before Harare Magistrate Sheunesu Matova.
The trial of Mhlanga, a senior journalist at Heart and Soul Broadcasting Services (HSTV), owned by Alpha Media Holdings, and who is out of custody on bail, commenced on Tuesday 15 July 2025, after he was arrested by Zimbabwe Republic Police officers on 24 February 2025 and charged with transmitting data messages with the intention of inciting violence as defined in section 164 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
In court, Prosecutor Anesu Chirenje told Magistrate Matova that Mhlanga, who is jointly charged with HSTV General Manager Olga Muteiwa, acted unlawfully when he reportedly recorded a video of Blessed Runesu Geza, a former ZANU PF central committee member and a liberation war veteran, and allegedly 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.
Geza is 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 trial of Mhlanga, who is represented by Chris Mhike of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, continues on 31 July 2025 after Chirenje applied for a postponement on the grounds that the first state witness, Detective Inspector Edmore Nyazamba, had fallen ill.
ENDS
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