{"id":106227,"date":"2025-03-21T17:40:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T15:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe"},"modified":"2025-04-04T12:52:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T10:52:00","slug":"when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe","title":{"rendered":"When Being Different Becomes Dangerous: Plight Of Journalism In Zimbabwe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>Most of us are aware of Mr. Blessed Mhlanga who is charged with two counts of contravening Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:09]. This charge pertains to the transmission of data messages that incite violence or damage to property.<\/p>\n

The arrest of Blessed Mhlanga is a prima facie case of unlawful detention, as it ostensibly contravenes the sacrosanct provisions of the Zimbabwean Constitution.<\/p>\n

A combination of international human rights agreements and Zimbabwe\u2019s constitution support the necessity of granting journalists unrestricted freedom to voice their opinions.<\/p>\n

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Zimbabwe in 1991, safeguards the right to freedom of expression in Article 19, which provides that \u201ceveryone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference\u201d and \u201cto seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.<\/p>\n

The African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, to which Zimbabwe is a signatory, explicitly protects the right to freedom of expression in Article 9, which states that \u201cevery individual shall have the right to receive information\u201d and \u201cto express and disseminate his opinions within the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Section 61 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act 2013 unequivocally guarantees the right to freedom of expression, stating that \u201cevery person has the right to freedom of expression, which includes… freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and opinions\u201d<\/p>\n

Does it then follow that journalists are safe, and why then are there rampant arrests of journalists in Zimbabwe? The legal framework governing journalism in Zimbabwe includes several laws that ostensibly protect press freedom but are often misused to suppress dissent.<\/p>\n

Some borrowed aspects of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act contain provisions that can be interpreted broadly to criminalize journalistic activities deemed unfavourable by authorities. These laws create an environment where journalists operate under constant threat of legal repercussions.<\/p>\n

The Zimbabwean government\u2019s penchant for utilizing specious allegations, such as \u201cpublishing false information\u201d or \u201cinciting violence,\u201d to effect the wrongful and arbitrary detention of journalists has been a pervasive phenomenon over the past decade.<\/p>\n

This pernicious practice constitutes a blatant infringement of the rights to freedom of expression and opinion, as well as the right to liberty and security of the person, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.<\/p>\n

The case of Hopewell Chin\u2019ono, who was repeatedly detained on spurious charges of communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the State for exposing government corruption, exemplifies the measures employed to stifle critical reporting and dissenting voices.<\/p>\n

The widespread condemnation of Chin\u2019ono\u2019s detentions by human rights organizations globally underscores the grave risks faced by journalists who dare to challenge official narratives.<\/p>\n

For the past two decades, the lexicon of treason, sedition, incitement to violence, and dissemination of false information has been ubiquitously invoked to stifle journalistic freedom and dissenting voices.<\/p>\n

It is axiomatic that every journalist must be cognisant of the perilous landscape they navigate, wherein deviation from the norm is oftentimes conflated with perfidy.<\/p>\n

The chilling effect of this paradigm is exemplified by the myriad of journalists who, despite their desire to provide comprehensive coverage of the Geza issue, are intimidated into self-censorship.<\/p>\n

The spectre of prosecution for putative offences such as \u201csupporting insurrection\u201d or \u201csubversion\u201d hangs precariously over their heads, effectively muzzling their freedom of expression and quashing their journalistic integrity.<\/p>\n

In a putative democracy such as Zimbabwe, where the sacrosanct provisions of the Constitution guarantee the inviolability of fundamental rights and freedoms, the liberty of journalists to articulate their sentiments and opine on pertinent issues ought to be untrammelled by the machinations of censorship and the panopticon-esque surveillance apparatus, which insidiously seeks to extort conformity and submission.<\/p>\n

By Gaylord Munemo (Emergency Response Specialist)<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Most of us are aware of Mr. Blessed Mhlanga who is charged with two counts of contravening Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:09]. This charge pertains to the transmission of data messages that incite violence or damage to property. The arrest of Blessed Mhlanga is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":106226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[7387,12900,17408,11399,3288,19],"class_list":["post-106227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-blessed-mhlanga","tag-freedom-of-expression","tag-gaylord-munemo","tag-journalism","tag-journalists","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Being Different Becomes Dangerous: Plight Of Journalism In Zimbabwe - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Most of us are aware of Mr. Blessed Mhlanga who is charged with two counts of contravening Section 136 of the Criminal L ...\" \/>\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\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Being Different Becomes Dangerous: Plight Of Journalism In Zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most of us are aware of Mr. Blessed Mhlanga who is charged with two counts of contravening Section 136 of the Criminal L ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-21T15:40:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-04T10:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1742566556.346926.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\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=\"3 minutes\" \/>\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\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"When Being Different Becomes Dangerous: Plight Of Journalism In Zimbabwe\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-21T15:40:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-04T10:52:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe\"},\"wordCount\":652,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1742566556.346926.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Blessed Mhlanga\",\"Freedom of Expression\",\"Gaylord Munemo\",\"Journalism\",\"Journalists\",\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/when-being-different-becomes-dangerous-plight-of-journalism-in-zimbabwe\",\"name\":\"When Being Different Becomes Dangerous: Plight Of Journalism In Zimbabwe - 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