JOURNALIST Blessed Mhlanga is back at the Harare Magistrates Court seeking bail, which he was recently denied by High Court judge Justice Gibson Mandaza.
Mhlanga, a senior journalist at Heart & Soul TV, an online radio and TV channel under the Alpha Media Holdings stable, is facing an incitement to violence charge under section 164 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
He was arrested on February 24 accused of unlawfully recording a video of Blessed Runesu Geza, a war veteran and fierce critic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and allegedly distributing it on HStv’s YouTube channel.
He has been in remand prison since.
On February 28, Harare magistrate Farai Gwitima denied him bail saying he can interfere with witnesses.
Mhlanga’s lawyer Chris Mhike appealed the ruling at the High Court, arguing that there are no compelling reasons to justify his continued detention.
Justice Mandaza, however, said the State had a compelling case.
“The offence is that as an employee of HStv, he (Mhlanga) transmitted violent messages. There is no absurdity,” the judge said.
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“The charge is about transmitting data messages leading to incitement of violence. It is not an essential element of the offence that the violence must have occurred.”
