CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere on Wednesday said that she will continue speaking freely despite her conviction of communicating falsehoods by a magistrate earlier in the day.
Speaking to journalists after her sentencing, Mahere said the Constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees her right to freedom of expression. She said:
At the end of the day, the Constitution must be respected, no citizen should ever be afraid to speak in line with the constitutional imperative.
The constitution which is the supreme law says every citizen has the right to speak freely.
So as citizens who have desires for change, who are hopeful about a new Zimbabwe the courage to speak in line with the constitution permits should never be taken away, so regardless of what transpired today, I remain bound by what the constitution provides, which is the freedom to speak freely.
Mahere was on Wednesday, 05 April 2023, convicted of charges of publishing falsehoods prejudicial to the State by Harare Regional Magistrate Taurai Manuwere after a full trial.
She was ordered to pay a US$500 fine or spend three months in prison.
Mahere allegedly tweeted that a baton-wielding police officer enforcing COVID-19 lockdown regulations had fatally struck one Rebecca Musariri’s child in Harare.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) refuted the claim and said the child was not killed.
A video of the incident went viral in 2020, with the mother clinging to a police officer claiming he had killed her baby.
Source: Pindula News
