A Harare man has appeared in court facing charges of
unlawfully intending to cause contempt, ridicule and hatred towards President
Emmerson Mnangagwa after allegedly insulting the President and his mother and
threatening to cut the testicles of his supporters.
Allegations against Abraham Baison, a 30-year-old from
Mount Hampden are that on Sunday he insulted Mnangagwa by shouting expletives
about the President’s private parts and those of his mother.
The state, led by George Manokore argued that Baison was
aware that there was a real risk that the statement was false and could
engender feelings of hostility towards Mnangagwa.
It was the state’s case that on Monday at about 10pm,
Baison stood at his door and started shouting obscenities aimed at Mnangagwa.
Baison’s neighbour, Dorcas Chivavaya reportedly heard the
insults and alerted Petros Kasiya, who confronted the accused.
The accused allegedly repeated his insults leading to
Kasiya, who reported the case at Marlborough Police Station the following day.
Baison, who was represented by Kossam Ncube of Kossam Ncube
and Partners, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Magistrate, Vongai Muchuchuti-Gurira granted Baison $300
bail and remanded the case to June 3.
As part of his bail conditions, Baison was ordered not to
interfere with witnesses and report every Friday to Marlborough Police Station
between 6am and 6pm. The number of cases of people accused of insulting
Mnangagwa continue to stack up.
Just recently, a Chipinge man was accused of insulting
Mnangagwa after he allegedly said the Zimbabwe leader did not measure up
against his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.
MDC Alliance legislator Joel Gabbuza, is one of the high
profile people that have been arrested on allegations of insulting Mnangagwa.
Last year, three people were dragged to court and charged
with insulting Mnangagwa after they allegedly said the President had failed to
revive the country’s political and economic fortunes and should, therefore,
hand over power to opposition MDC leader, Nelson Chamisa. Newsday
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