Chigumba retweet suspect ’mistakenly’ pleaded guilty

A 25-YEAR-OLD Chitungwiza man who allegedly retweeted a message from a ghost account named after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba yesterday told the court that he “mistakenly” pleaded guilty to the charges due to a misunderstanding of the essential elements of the offence.

Night Tawona Shadaya, who is represented by Noble Chinhanu from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, told Harare magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa that she must record his plea as not guilty regardless of his initial plea.

“In this matter, the accused person has never had intention to commit the offence and was not afforded the chance to defend himself,” Chinhanu said.

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