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Hopewell Chin’ono was accused of violating his bail conditions by tweeting about the judicial outcome of a gold smuggling scandal.
Award-winning Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was charged on Friday with obstruction of justice and ordered to be held in a maximum security prison.
Chin’ono is accused of violating his bail conditions by tweeting about the judicial outcome of a gold smuggling scandal despite being banned from posting on Twitter.
He had initially been arrested in July on charges of inciting public violence before planned anti-government protests, but was released in September on bail.
The 49-year-old, who was arrested again on Tuesday, arrived at Harare magistrates court in shackles and handcuffs on his legs, where he was charged with obstruction of justice and contempt of court for the tweet.
His latest arrest is related to the arrest of the head of the Zimbabwe Federation of Miners, Henrietta Rushwaya, at Harare airport on October 26 as he was about to board a flight to Dubai with six kilos (13 pounds) of gold. in your carry-on luggage.
In a tweet, Chin’ono said he had spoken to prosecutors about Rushwaya, an act the state said had jeopardized “the integrity of the case against him and Rushwaya’s.”
Harare Magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa ordered that Chin’ono be detained in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, which houses criminals sentenced on death row or sentenced to life imprisonment.
His legal team said his case should not be heard by a Special Anti-Corruption Court as it was not about bribery, and said the new detention conditions threatened his client’s well-being.
“Why do they keep him together with the most dangerous criminals in Section D when he is not a dangerous criminal?” asked attorney Beatrice Mtetwa.
“Why are they taking him to court in shackles and handcuffs, and yet he should be in pretrial detention?”
Chin’ono had initially been detained for 45 days for “inciting public violence” before planned demonstrations against corruption and deteriorating living standards that were thwarted by a heavy deployment of police and soldiers.
Praised for his investigative journalism, he helped expose a multi-million dollar scandal involving the procurement of supplies for the coronavirus in May.
He is scheduled to return to court on Monday, when he is expected to request bail.
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