Blessed Mhlanga's bail appeal judgment reserved

Justice Gibson Mandaza of the Harare High Court has reserved judgment following a bail appeal by journalist Blessed Mhlanga, who has been in remand prison since his arrest for allegedly transmitting data messages that incite public violence.
Justice Mandaza said he will need time to go through the submissions.

"Quite a lot of submissions have been made. As soon as I'm ready I will put a notice on IECMS, I might put a date and advise parties when to come. It will just be a few days."
Mhlanga's lawyer, Chris Mhike, informed the court that the journalist is in poor health, suffering from a severe fever which he developed while in prison. Mhike urged the judge to intervene and release the evidence to both the court and the defence to allow for a fair and informed determination of the case.

The defence argues that the content written on the request for remand form differs from the statements made in the recordings presented by the prosecution. Mhike attempted to engage the State prior to the court proceedings but was unsuccessful. He stressed the importance of video and electronic evidence in securing their arguments.

"I tried to engage the State before commencing the court but they were not interested in allowing the appellant to challenge the evidence," Mhike said. "We can have an adjournment to midday to allow the State to avail this evidence. This is important because the State presented the accused with quotes of words that have been allegedly transmitted, which are completely different from what is written on the request for remand form."

Mhike also highlighted the issue of a warned and cautioned statement from the prosecution, which has not been made available due to the State's claim of privilege over the docket. He reiterated that the video evidence could be crucial to their case.

The State, however, argued that the defence should have requested the evidence at the magistrate court where Mhlanga first appeared. Mhike disputed this, referring to the transcript of the lower court proceedings and emphasizing that the defence had attempted to request the evidence earlier but was denied by Magistrate Farai Gwitima.

"It is not true that the issue of evidence arrived for the first time at these proceedings. We did point to the issue of electronic and video evidence at the lower court and attacked its credibility. This is a continuation of our request, and we hope that the High Court will give us a fairer hearing," Mhike argued.

The judge took an adjournment to consider the application for further particulars, with the ruling set to guide the next steps in the case, including whether further arguments will be allowed or a ruling on bail will be made.

On Thursday, Mhike also raised concerns about delays in retrieving Mhlanga's record from the security record room, which he claimed was affecting the timely progression of the case.