Harare (AFP)
A Zimbabwean journalist and whistleblower arrested on Tuesday for contempt of justice, accused of violating his bail conditions for speaking on Twitter, will return to prison, it was learned on Friday during 'an audience in Harare.
Hopewell Chin'ono, who has won numerous journalism awards, was banned from broadcasting messages inciting violence or encouraging protests.
His new arrest came after a tweet in which he denounced the pressure exerted by the Minister of Justice on the magistrates, in the case of a mining company manager recently arrested at Harare airport with six kilos of gold in his hand luggage.
The court ordered that he remains in pre-trial detention.
His lawyer expressed serious reservations about his conditions of detention, asking in particular why the journalist was placed in the high security prison of Chikurubi, on the outskirts of Harare.
"Why is he being held with the most dangerous prisoners when he is not himself? Why does he appear handcuffed and his feet shackled?" Asked Me Béatrice Mtetwa.
The journalist is detained in section D of this prison, reserved for those sentenced to life or to the death penalty.
His new arrest came just two months after spending 45 days in prison for inciting "public violence" before anti-government protests.
These demonstrations at the end of July, prevented by a large police and military system, denounced the corruption of the State and the deterioration of the standard of living in Zimbabwe.
Hopewell Chin'ono had called on Twitter to participate in this demonstration.
His first arrest came after reports exposing government corruption linked to the purchase of supplies against Covid-19, which led to the dismissal of the Minister of Health.
© 2020 AFP