Alpha Media Holdings Executive Chairman, Trevor Ncube has described actions by the State as a chilling attack on freedom of expression concerning the arrest of Advocate Fadzayi Mahere, Job Sikhala, and Hopewell Chin’ono.
He said the three have been charged under a law that was struck down by the Constitutional Court in 2014 resulting in the violation of their rights to free speech even more pernicious.
Using the words of Chief Justice Malaba, “Government is prohibited from appointing itself as a monitor of truth for people”, Ncube said muzzling those who call for State accountability was a cynical abuse of power.
In a statement, Ncube stressed that Zimbabwe’s Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression and the State must curtail its assault of this right.
“It is the responsibility of the State to ensure the safety of its citizens and to guarantee the comfort and security of those it incarcerates. Images of Chin’ono and others in leg irons are meant to intimidate those who dare ask uncomfortable questions to the state,” he said.
Over the past six months, Hopewell Chin’ono has been in and out of the courts and Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison on charges relating to his work as a journalist.
Ncube added that “An attack on Chin’ono’s rights to freedom of expression limits the right of citizens to know about what is going on in the country. The response of the State should be to set the record straight, not to arrest or harass those who express themselves freely. What should have received urgent attention from the state are allegations of police brutality.”
