Mahere set to appeal conviction and sentence

Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere says she is appealing her conviction and sentence for communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the state.

The politician was Wednesday fined US$500 by Harare magistrate Taurai Manuwere following a two-year trial for the offence.

Mahere confirmed she is appealing the ruling before referring further questions to her lawyer David Drury.

Reached for comment, Drury said the appeal process will take off as soon as they obtain a transcript of the judgement.

"That process will be done in terms of the time limits provided by the rules and pragmatically, we await a transcript of the judgment which has been urgently requested but is not available today," said Drury.

He added, "As soon as the appeal notice and grounds are settled and served, this will be shared given that the area of law is important, speaking as it does to freedom of expression which is a recognised constitutional right not only domestically but also in terms of international customary law instruments which ought to resonate and apply to our Law."

Mahere landed in the dock January 2021 for recirculating, through her Twitter handle, a social media video of a woman who was filmed tussling a uniformed police officer while holding a motionless baby with her other hand claiming the police operative had accidentally struck and killed the infant with a baton stick.

The police officer had been enforcing Covid-19 restrictions against errant commuter transport operators at an illegal bus stop along Harare's Second Street.

It later turned out the claims by the woman were not true.

The prosecution of the opposition politician has invited scorn from her party and outsiders who are adamant the law she was charged with was long struck off the country's statute books.