News / National
Journalist acquitted of extortion charges
19 Jun 2025 at 18:03hrs | Views
Freelance Journalist Simbarashe Sithole was on Thursday afternoon acquitted of extortion charges at the Harare Magistrate Court.
After a full trial, Magistrate Rufaro Panavanhu ruled that the state had failed to prove the essential elements of the offence, and as such, it did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sithole was represented by Mr Lenon Sheunesu Mapfumo.
The state, led by Dzidzai Josiah alleged that on April 3 2023, Sithole published a news article on the Bulawayo24.com website, which West Properties felt was malicious and misleading and undermined its bid to list on the forex-dominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange.
Irked by the 'malicious and fabricated' report, the company tasked its spokesperson, Michael Chideme, to engage Sithole to pull down the story, which it felt was detrimental to its planned listing.
Chideme allegedly met Sithole on April 6, who indicated that he was agreeable to have the offending article removed from the website, but demanded some money for it.
On April 11, Chideme again met with Sithole, who allegedly demanded a US$400 bribe.
The state further alleged that Sithole had indicated that he was on the verge of publishing another article but was amenable to stop publication on condition complainant paid the demand.
This led the complainant to file a report with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, leading to Sithole's arrest.
Speaking to this publication after court Sithole's lawyer said "we are happy with the acquittal of Mr Sithole, who had been on remand in respect of this matter for the past 2 years and that his name had been vindicated. He is now free to continue with his life, which had been greatly disturbed by the extortion charges as he regularly had to come to court for the past 2 years whilst on remand we are however happy that justice has finally prevailed."
After a full trial, Magistrate Rufaro Panavanhu ruled that the state had failed to prove the essential elements of the offence, and as such, it did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sithole was represented by Mr Lenon Sheunesu Mapfumo.
The state, led by Dzidzai Josiah alleged that on April 3 2023, Sithole published a news article on the Bulawayo24.com website, which West Properties felt was malicious and misleading and undermined its bid to list on the forex-dominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange.
Irked by the 'malicious and fabricated' report, the company tasked its spokesperson, Michael Chideme, to engage Sithole to pull down the story, which it felt was detrimental to its planned listing.
Chideme allegedly met Sithole on April 6, who indicated that he was agreeable to have the offending article removed from the website, but demanded some money for it.
On April 11, Chideme again met with Sithole, who allegedly demanded a US$400 bribe.
The state further alleged that Sithole had indicated that he was on the verge of publishing another article but was amenable to stop publication on condition complainant paid the demand.
This led the complainant to file a report with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, leading to Sithole's arrest.
Speaking to this publication after court Sithole's lawyer said "we are happy with the acquittal of Mr Sithole, who had been on remand in respect of this matter for the past 2 years and that his name had been vindicated. He is now free to continue with his life, which had been greatly disturbed by the extortion charges as he regularly had to come to court for the past 2 years whilst on remand we are however happy that justice has finally prevailed."
Source - Byo24News
