{"id":40887,"date":"2021-05-25T16:55:49","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T14:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=40887"},"modified":"2021-05-25T16:04:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T14:04:08","slug":"magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks","title":{"rendered":"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Two prominent Gutu MDC activists who were allegedly arrested by police for wearing face masks inscribed with opposition leader Nelson Chamisa\u2019s name have been acquitted by a magistrate.<\/p>\n

Gutu magistrate Mandlenkosi Ndhlovu dismissed the State case against Charles Zvenyika and Edward Chagonda before going to a full trial on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Ndhlovu said police may have abused their power in the arrest of the two and depended on mere speculation. He said:<\/p>\n

This case is like a boxing ring scenario where the law enforcement agents have an upper hand over their opponents before the match has even begun.<\/p>\n

Magistrate Ndhlovu said police failed to establish a prima facie case against the two men who were represented by Knowledge Mabvure of Chihambakwe Law Chambers and therefore the case was thrown out.<\/p>\n

He described statements by the arresting police officers as inconsistent, contradictory and lacking the most crucial evidence to establish a case against the two.<\/p>\n

He found out that police arrested the two for touting but then went on to charge them for criminal nuisance.<\/p>\n

The magistrate said for one to establish a prima facie case in a criminal nuisance case police needed members of the public who could come to court and testify that the two were indeed a nuisance. He ruled:<\/p>\n

The State has not established the element of \u2018annoyance to the public\u2019 which is crucial to the successful conviction for criminal nuisance.<\/p>\n

The court cannot rely on the word of Police offices who were on a sting operation in the absence of independent eye-witnesses.<\/p>\n

The two activists, however, told the court that they were being arrested for wearing a mask inscribed Chamisa Chete Chete.<\/p>\n

They said the arresting officers told them that the law enforcement agents could not allow them to walk around with those masks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Two prominent Gutu MDC activists who were allegedly arrested by police for wearing face masks inscribed with opposition leader Nelson Chamisa\u2019s name have been acquitted by a magistrate. Gutu magistrate Mandlenkosi Ndhlovu dismissed the State case against Charles Zvenyika and Edward Chagonda before going to a full trial on Monday morning. Ndhlovu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":40886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,10,15],"tags":[1493,2189,4431,4870,1315,64,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-40887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-homepage-english","9":"category-parties","10":"category-twitter","11":"tag-africa-press","12":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","13":"tag-criminal-nuisance","14":"tag-face-masks","15":"tag-gutu","16":"tag-nelson-chamisa","17":"tag-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"\nMagistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two prominent Gutu MDC activists who were allegedly arrested by police for wearing face masks inscribed with opposition ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two prominent Gutu MDC activists who were allegedly arrested by police for wearing face masks inscribed with opposition ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-25T14:55:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-25T14:04:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/img-60ad03ae60b32.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks\",\"name\":\"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks - zimbabwe\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/img-60ad03ae60b32.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-25T14:55:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-25T14:04:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/2e02b5816e71b1149d79877f669a85e4\"},\"description\":\"Two prominent Gutu MDC activists who were allegedly arrested by police for wearing face masks inscribed with opposition ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/img-60ad03ae60b32.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/img-60ad03ae60b32.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853,\"caption\":\"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/\",\"name\":\"zimbabwe\",\"description\":\"\u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631 \u064a\u0648\u0645\u064a\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0645\u062f\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0627\u0639\u0629\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/2e02b5816e71b1149d79877f669a85e4\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks - zimbabwe","description":"Two prominent Gutu MDC activists who were allegedly arrested by police for wearing face masks inscribed with opposition ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks","og_description":"Two prominent Gutu MDC activists who were allegedly arrested by police for wearing face masks inscribed with opposition ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks","og_site_name":"zimbabwe","article_published_time":"2021-05-25T14:55:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-25T14:04:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":853,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/img-60ad03ae60b32.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks","name":"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks - zimbabwe","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/img-60ad03ae60b32.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-25T14:55:49+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-25T14:04:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/2e02b5816e71b1149d79877f669a85e4"},"description":"Two prominent Gutu MDC activists who were allegedly arrested by police for wearing face masks inscribed with opposition ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/img-60ad03ae60b32.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/img-60ad03ae60b32.jpg","width":1280,"height":853,"caption":"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/magistrate-acquits-mdc-activists-over-chamisa-face-masks#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Magistrate Acquits MDC Activists Over Chamisa Face Masks"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/","name":"zimbabwe","description":"\u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631 \u064a\u0648\u0645\u064a\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0645\u062f\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0627\u0639\u0629","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/2e02b5816e71b1149d79877f669a85e4","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}