Lawyers from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) have rescued a 43 year-old Douglas Chauke from Gutu in Masvingo following his week-long detention for allegedly undermining authority of or insulting President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
According to the police, Chauke told some patrons at Machinya Bar on 13 December 2021 that the ZANU PF leader had “changed nothing in Zimbabwe.
Police further accused Chauke of saying Mnangagwa was following in the footsteps of the late former President Robert Mugabe and that the only thing he did successfully was the killing of the Ndebele people in Matabeleland during Gukurahundi.
Chauke was released on ZWL10 000 bail and ordered to report at Gutu Police station once in a fortnight, not to interfere with State witnesses and to continue residing at his given residential address.
He will return to court on 31 December.
Chauke is one of several Zimbabweans arrested and prosecuted for allegedly undermining or insulting President Mnangagwa.
During the reign of the late Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights documented more than 200 cases in which people were accused of undermining or insulting the late nonagenarian leader.
