A 32-YEAR-OLD Chiredzi man, Zephania Virimai, has been acquitted on charges of insulting police officers and labelling them as corrupt.
Virimai was arrested on August 1 this year and charged with undermining police authority as defined in Section 177 (b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 09:23, but successfully challenged the charge through his lawyer Blessing Nyamaropa.
On Wednesday, Chiredzi magistrate Tafadzwa Mhlanga acquitted him due to lack of evidence.
Prosecutors had claimed that Virimai insulted the law enforcement agents in a banking hall queue by referring to them as “rogue police officers who bank corruption money”.
The State claimed that the remarks were likely to engender feelings of hostility towards members of the police force and expose them to contempt, ridicule or low esteem. — Online
