Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was on 8 January 2021 arrested on allegations of publishing or communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the State.
It is alleged Chin’ono breached Section 31 (a) (iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act by posting a tweet that falsely reported the death of a child after a physical assault by the police
This comes at a time when the journalist is on bail on two different charges, one of which is incitement to participate in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of peace or bigotry or alternatively incitement to commit public violence.
The other charge relates to defeating or obstructing the course of justice.