ConCourt frees Mugabe too old insult man

A 32-year-old Mwenezi man, who was facing accusations of insulting President Robert Mugabe, was yesterday freed by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) following the State's concession that the charge preferred against him did not contain an essential element required to sustain it.

Fortune Makonzo had been charged with undermining the authority of or insulting the President as defined in section 33(2) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

The State had alleged that on November 11, 2011, while at National Railways Club at Rutenga Growth Point in Mwenezi, Makonzo uttered denigrating words against Mugabe, saying "he was a bastard too old to rule the country".