Fadzayi Mahere Convicted of Publishing Falsehoods
…Offence carries up to 20 years in jail
Nevanji Munyaradzi Chiondegwa
Harare – Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere has been convicted of communicating a falsehood prejudicial to the state and law enforcement for posting a video of a woman being beaten by police while the baby strapped on her back, and suggesting the baby died in the incident.
In finding Mahere guilty, Harare Regional Magistrate Mr Taurai Manwere said Mahere undermined the authority of the police through her tweet.
Mr Manwere said it was not in dispute that the baby did not die and she failed to verify that fact before tweeting.
The court noted that Mahere materially lied when she tweeted that the baby was hit to death by police with a baton.
Mr Manwere said Mahere’s conduct was reckless and detrimental to the State as it intended to undermine the police force and also eroded public confidence in the law enforcement agents.
The hearing has gone into mitigation before Magistrate hands down the sentence.
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