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Weekly Media Review - Issue 10
The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Monday March 07th 2011 - Sunday March 13th 2011
March 18, 2011

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Comment

In what was reported as a first for Zimbabwe, police arrested an individual on February 24th for posting a message on Facebook commenting on the recent uprising in Egypt.

The State accused Vikas Mavhudzi of "subversion" after he allegedly expressed support for the protests in Egypt that led to the resignation of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Facebook wall (Nehanda Radio and New Zimbabwe.com, 16 & 17/3). He has been denied bail by a Bulawayo magistrate.

"I am overwhelmed . . . What happened in Egypt is sending shockwaves to dictators around the world. No weapon but unity of purpose worth emulating, hey", Mavhudzi allegedly wrote.

The State says Mavhudzi had "unlawfully" suggested to Tsvangirai "the taking over or attempt to take over the government by unconstitutional means or usurping the functions of the government" (Nehanda Radio and New Zimbabwe.com, 16 & 17/3).

The magistrate dismissed his bail application on the basis that he allegedly posed a national security threat and that "what happened in Egypt is a reality".

MMPZ views this as an indictment of the criminal justice system where a citizen accused of making an innocuous observation about uprisings in North Africa is incarcerated for three weeks on charges alleging he was encouraging the illegal overthrow of the Zimbabwe government. Denying this citizen his right to freedom on the basis that he represents a "security threat" has the effect of suffocating legitimate debate about the uprisings in North Africa and their relevance to Zimbabwe - as was the arrest, detention and prosecution of former MDC legislator Munyaradzi Gwisai and five other human rights activists last month.

These overzealous prosecutions of ordinary citizens debating perfectly legitimate issues of democracy - and the denial of their freedom - clearly instils fear of arrest among the citizenry if they publicly engage in discussing such topics. Such intimidation undermines Zimbabweans' right to free expression and provides the democratic nations of the world with a good example of the gratuitous repression that has become the hallmark of Zimbabwe's intolerant and authoritarian government.

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