{"id":40109,"date":"2021-05-11T18:37:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T16:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=40109"},"modified":"2021-05-11T18:33:35","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T16:33:35","slug":"hodzi-challenges-chinonos-acquittal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/hodzi-challenges-chinonos-acquittal","title":{"rendered":"Hodzi Challenges Chin\u2019ono\u2019s Acquittal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>By Mary Taruvinga<\/b> – PROSECUTOR General (PG) Kumbirai Hodzi has filed an application with the High Court challenging the decision by Justice Jesta Charehwa to acquit freelance journalist Hopewell Chin\u2019ono in a case he was being accused of publishing falsehoods.<\/p>\n

Chin\u2019ono got into trouble with the law early this year after he allegedly shared on his Twitter a video of an agitated woman who was dragging a police operative by the collar accusing him of fatally striking her baby with a baton stick.<\/p>\n

The journalist was charged with publishing falsehoods but Charehwa cleared him of any wrongdoing after finding Chin\u2019ono had been charged under a piece of legislation that was struck off by the Constitutional Court back in 2014.<\/p>\n

Hodzi deposed an affidavit through Fungai Isaac Nyahunzvi stating that he did not get a chance to respond to Chin\u2019ono\u2019s appeal which was upheld.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo opposing papers were filed on behalf of the second respondent, the matter was treated as unopposed and a default judgement was subsequently granted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nyahunzvi said he had taken over the prosecution of an appeal in which Hodzi was appealing against the temporary release of Chin\u2019ono\u2019s passport.<\/p>\n

He said there was need for him to consult with his superiors on whether the Supreme Court appeal should be pursued since it had been overtaken by events.<\/p>\n

Chin\u2019ono had already returned the passport.<\/p>\n

He said Chin\u2019ono\u2019s application for review against the magistrate\u2019s decision placing him on remand came on March 23, 2020, the same date the Supreme Court appeal was supposed to be withdrawn and he ended up mixing the two cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cI then erroneously closed my file. It totally eclipsed my mind that I was then also supposed to attend to the application for review that is filing my opposing papers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nyahunzvi said he only discovered his error when a default judgement was passed by Charehwa in favour of Chin\u2019ono.<\/p>\n

It is his submission that Chin\u2019ono\u2019s application was set to flop because the Constitutional Court found it to be infringing, then, on the freedoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs things stand, it is still a valid law of the Republic of Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor it to be declared invalid, the Constitutional Court has to be petitioned again and the question of its validity interrogated vis a vis the provisions of section 61(5) of the current Constitution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nyahunzvi said hearing arguments from both parties also has the advantage of improving their jurisprudence, because he felt such cases should be decided on the facts and merits as opposed to technicality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis the applicant is of the view that had the matter been decided on the merits with both parties being heard, then the application for review would not have met any success,\u201d he said praying for an order reversing Charehwa\u2019s judgement.<\/p>\n

The matter is yet to be heard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. By Mary Taruvinga – PROSECUTOR General (PG) Kumbirai Hodzi has filed an application with the High Court challenging the decision by Justice Jesta Charehwa to acquit freelance journalist Hopewell Chin\u2019ono in a case he was being accused of publishing falsehoods. Chin\u2019ono got into trouble with the law early this year after he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":40108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,12,15],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":["post-40109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nHodzi Challenges Chin\u2019ono\u2019s Acquittal - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Mary Taruvinga - PROSECUTOR General (PG) Kumbirai Hodzi has filed an application with the High Court challengi ...\" \/>\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\/hodzi-challenges-chinonos-acquittal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hodzi Challenges Chin\u2019ono\u2019s Acquittal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Mary Taruvinga - 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