Zimbabwe journalist Hopewell Chin’ono re-arrested for tweeting

Award-winning Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was arrested Tuesday on charges of contempt of court, accused of having breached his bail conditions by tweeting, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said.

“We confirm he has been arrested,” ZLHR director Roselyn Hanzi told AFP.

As part of his bail conditions, Chin’ono, 49, was ordered to report to the Zimbabwe police twice a week, and was barred from tweeting messages that incite public violence or encourage mass protests.

The “allegation is he tweeted: ‘On day of bail hearing CJ (chief justice) was seen leaving court. In light of what has been said by judges, what does this say,'” said Hanzi.

He was making reference to a letter penned to President Emmerson Mnangagwa by the country’s judges, accusing Chief Justice Luke Malaba of interfering with magistrates and their decisions.

Chin’ono’s arrest over the tweet comes barely two months after he was released on bail following 45 days of incarceration over what authorities said was “inciting public violence” ahead of planned anti-government protests.

The demonstations, which were thwarted by a heavy deployment of police and soldiers, were called to protest state corruption and the deteriorating living standards for the poor.

Chin’ono’s first arrest in May came after he published an expose of government corruption related to the procurement of Covid-19 supplies.

His reporting led to the sacking of health minister Obadiah Moyo and implicated the president’s son.

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