Zimbabwe court jails man for 'insulting' president

By John Cassim

Harare, ZIMBABWE (AA) - A court in the Zimbabwean capital Harare on Friday jailed a member of a war veteran body for allegedly insulting the country’s President, Robert Mugabe.

Douglas Mahiya, spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly insulting the president in his communique released on July 21, which called on Mugabe to resign.

The communique drew a red line between Mugabe and thousands of the former liberation war fighters, regarded as the backbone of the ruling ZANU PF party.

Following publication of the communique in the local and international media, a crackdown was carried out against the veterans, reportedly on the orders of the 92-year-old Mugabe.

Mahiya’s lawyer Harrison Nkomo expressed his disappointment with the court order outside the Harare Magistrate Court building Friday.

“It’s unfortunate I can’t preempt the court’s decision but we made an application for discharge in the absence of a ‘certificate for prosecution’ which was overruled; however Mr. Mahiya is appearing again Saturday for his bail application,” Nkomo said.

According to the Zimbabwean law, any proceeding should not take place in the absence of a “certificate of prosecution” if someone faced serious charges such as treason or insulting the president.

Mugabe has ruled the country for 36 years and had commanded a lot of respect among “war veterans”, some of whom remain in top positions in the government, army and police.

From the 1980s, war veterans had been in the lead during any election campaign for Mugabe. The former freedom fighters allegedly caused insurmountable pain to the white commercial farmers from 2000, when they embarked on a controversial land grab. In 2008, the war veterans were again in the lead when a violent campaign was unleashed during the presidential election run-off, leading to more than 400 deaths of activists from the opposition.