CCC spokesperson Fadzai Mahere fined US$500

Philemon Jambaya

Citizens Coalition for Change CCC spokesperson Fadzai Mahere has been fined US$500 following her conviction for communicating a falsehood prejudicial to the State and law enforcement.

The fine has to be paid by tomorrow April 6, failure of which she will serve three months in prison.

Mahere posted a video of a woman allegedly being beaten by police with a baby strapped on her back and suggesting the baby died in the incident.

The prosecution wanted a custodial sentence of three years for the crime.

The CCC spokesperson faced up to 20 years in jail.

“According to Veritas the crime carries a cross of fine up to or exceeding level fourteen [currently Z$120 000] or imprisonment for a period not exceeding twenty years or both.

“Any person who, whether inside or outside Zimbabwe publishes or communicates to any other person a statement which is wholly or materially false with the intention or realising that there is a real risk or possibility, undermining public confidence in a law enforcement agency, the Prisons and Correctional Service or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe shall, whether or not the publication or communication results in a consequence referred to in subparagraph be guilty of publishing or communicating a false statement prejudicial to the State and liable to a fine up to or exceeding level fourteen [currently Z$120 000] or imprisonment for a period not exceeding twenty years or both,” reads part of the document on the Veritas Website.

In January 2021, reports circulated on social media alleging that a police officer in Harare had struck a woman with his baton and killed a baby strapped on her back. The police issued a denial, saying that the police officer had tried to stop a kombi by smashing its windscreen. Glass fragments hit a woman and her baby, and a fracas ensued. The mother and child were taken to a clinic and found not to have suffered injury.

Hopewell Chin’ono and Job Sikhala were also arrested for publishing or communicating the original report, alleging that the child had died.

They are also being charged with contravening section 31(a)(iii) of the Criminal Law Code.