(Last Updated on January 21, 2021 by GERALD NCUBE)
HARARE – High Court judge Justice Davison Foroma today reserved his judgement on Hopewell Chin’ono’s bail appeal.
Veteran journalist, Chin’ono is challenging the decision by the magistrate courts to deny him bail following his arrest on charges of communicating falsehoods.
Chin’ono was arrested on 8 January for commenting on a widely circulated video which alleged that a police officer had fatally struck a baby with a baton stick.
He was subsequently denied bail by magistrate Lazini Ncube who ruled that the State’s fears that Chin’ono will commit other offences while on bail are well-founded.
The defence team led by Harrison Nkomo today argued that the lower court erred in denying their client bail, adding that the State had failed to suit compelling reasons to warrant the denial of bail.
However, the Prosecuting team told the court that Chin’ono had the propensity to commit offences and that by allegedly communicating falsehoods, he has the intention of causing the public to lose confidence in the law enforcement agents.
The arrest of Chin’ono together with two MDC Alliance officials, Job Sikhala and Fadzayi Mahere sparked massive criticism towards the State as legal experts highlighted that the trio was being charged under a law that was struck off the by Constitutional Court in 2014.