'Mugabe is a ...'
2008-08-24 17:03
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Harare - A 35-year-old man appeared in court in a southern Zimbabwean town in recent days for allegedly describing President Robert Mugabe, the country's tyrannical 84-year-old leader, as a female genital organ, reports said on Sunday.
Pinas Magago was discussing politics with friends in a hotel bar in the town of Masvingo last week and accused Mugabe of running down the country, said the independent Standard newspaper. The television in the bar was on at the time, and Mugabe appeared on the screen.
"He was so annoyed, he uttered the unprintable word in Shona (Zimbabwe's most widely-spoken language)," said the Standard.
Supporters of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party overheard him and called the police, who arrested him.
He appeared before Masvingo magistrate Learnmore Mpandasekwa, on changes of undermining or insulting the president and was remanded on bail of 200 new Zimbabwe dollars (about US$1) and must appear in court again on September 24.
Scores of people have been arrested and fined in recent years for expressing their opinions of Mugabe in vulgar terms, or for less.
A teacher, Selestine Jengeta, who was arrested last year and fined for saying he wished Mugabe dead, has appealed to the supreme court against his sentence.
- DPA