Own Correspondent

Zimbabwean authorities should immediately release independent investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and drop the incitement charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said.

Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services released a statement on Saturday, which CPJ reviewed, announcing that authorities had charged Chin’ono with “incitement to participate in public violence.”

“The detention of investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono is yet another example of Zimbabwe’s increasing intolerance toward the press and those who expose corruption allegations about the country’s ruling elite,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. “Instead of detaining those responsible for stealing public funds, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s security forces would rather employ strong-arm tactics to silence the messenger. Hopewell Chin’ono must be released immediately and allowed to work freely.”

Chin’ono, an award-winning journalist who writes for local and international publications, has covered alleged corruption by the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa in his reporting and on social media.

Chin’ono’s reporting on alleged COVID-19 procurement fraud within the country’s Ministry of Health led to the arrest and sacking of Health Minister Obadiah Moyo earlier this month.

Watch Angela Quintal speak to the SABC in the video downloading below: