A Harare man has appeared in court facing charges of unlawfully intending to cause contempt, ridicule and hatred towards President Emmerson Mnangagwa after allegedly insulting the President and his mother and threatening to cut the testicles of his supporters.
Allegations against Abraham Baison, a 30-year-old from Mount Hampden are that on Sunday he insulted Mnangagwa by shouting expletives about the President’s private parts and those of his mother.
The state, led by George Manokore argued that Baison was aware that there was a real risk that the statement was false and could engender feelings of hostility towards Mnangagwa.
It was the state’s case that on Monday at about 10pm, Baison stood at his door and started shouting obscenities aimed at Mnangagwa.
Baison’s neighbour, Dorcas Chivavaya reportedly heard the insults and alerted Petros Kasiya, who confronted the accused.
The accused allegedly repeated his insults leading to Kasiya, who reported the case at Marlborough Police Station the following day.
Baison, who was represented by Kossam Ncube of Kossam Ncube and Partners, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Magistrate, Vongai Muchuchuti-Gurira granted Baison $300 bail and remanded the case to June 3.
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As part of his bail conditions, Baison was ordered not to interfere with witnesses and report every Friday to Marlborough Police Station between 6am and 6pm.
The number of cases of people accused of insulting Mnangagwa continue to stack up.
Just recently, a Chipinge man was accused of insulting Mnangagwa after he allegedly said the Zimbabwe leader did not measure up against his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.
MDC Alliance legislator Joel Gabbuza, is one of the high profile people that have been arrested on allegations of insulting Mnangagwa.
Last year, three people were dragged to court and charged with insulting Mnangagwa after they allegedly said the President had failed to revive the country’s political and economic fortunes and should, therefore, hand over power to opposition MDC leader, Nelson Chamisa.
