{"id":105809,"date":"2025-03-10T10:26:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T08:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail"},"modified":"2025-03-25T19:50:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T17:50:51","slug":"high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail","title":{"rendered":"High Court To Hear Blessed Mhlanga\u2019s Appeal Against Denial Of Bail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>The Harare High Court will hear an appeal on Monday, 10 March, filed by Alpha Media Holdings senior journalist, Blessed Mhlanga, against the denial of his bail by Harare Magistrate Farai Gwitima.<\/p>\n

Mhlanga, represented by Chris Mhike of Atherstone & Cook, is challenging the lower court\u2019s decision to deny him bail.<\/p>\n

He argues that the magistrate erred by refusing him bail without compelling reasons to justify his continued detention.<\/p>\n

In his appeal, Mhlanga contends that the court \u201ca quo\u201d wrongly concluded that, as a senior political reporter, he would interfere with potential witnesses simply because some of his juniors might be called to testify.<\/p>\n

He also argues that the magistrate misdirected herself by assuming that consent to remand equates to an admission of guilt or reasonable suspicion.
\nMhlanga further submitted that the magistrate\u2019s decision ignored his denial of transmitting the controversial messages in question during the bail proceedings.<\/p>\n

Mhlanga was arrested on 24 February 2025 after voluntarily presenting himself to the police. He faces charges of allegedly inciting violence and transmitting data messages that could cause property damage.<\/p>\n

These accusations stem from his reporting on press conferences held by Blessed \u201cBombshell\u201d Geza, a war veteran and critic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, where Geza called for the President\u2019s resignation over allegations of corruption, incompetence, and misgovernance.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Harare High Court will hear an appeal on Monday, 10 March, filed by Alpha Media Holdings senior journalist, Blessed Mhlanga, against the denial of his bail by Harare Magistrate Farai Gwitima. Mhlanga, represented by Chris Mhike of Atherstone & Cook, is challenging the lower court\u2019s decision to deny him bail. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":105808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[7387,19],"class_list":["post-105809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-blessed-mhlanga","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nHigh Court To Hear Blessed Mhlanga\u2019s Appeal Against Denial Of Bail - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Harare High Court will hear an appeal on Monday, 10 March, filed by Alpha Media Holdings senior journalist, Blessed ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High Court To Hear Blessed Mhlanga\u2019s Appeal Against Denial Of Bail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Harare High Court will hear an appeal on Monday, 10 March, filed by Alpha Media Holdings senior journalist, Blessed ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-10T08:26:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-25T17:50:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741590057.68437.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"914\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"642\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"High Court To Hear Blessed Mhlanga\u2019s Appeal Against Denial Of Bail\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-10T08:26:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-25T17:50:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail\"},\"wordCount\":239,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741590057.68437.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Blessed Mhlanga\",\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-to-hear-blessed-mhlangas-appeal-against-denial-of-bail\",\"name\":\"High Court To Hear Blessed Mhlanga\u2019s Appeal Against Denial Of Bail - 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