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Bail for Zim newsmen
12/01/2004 23:23 - (SA)
Harare - Three journalists from a leading Zimbabwean independent weekly, arrested at the weekend for allegedly insulting President Robert Mugabe, were freed on bail on Monday by a Harare court.
Editor Iden Wetherell, news editor Vincent Kahiya and reporter Dumisani Muleya were granted bail of ZIM$20 000 by magistrate Sukai Tongogara.
"Bail is accorded to the accused to the amount of ZIM$20 000," Tongogara said, after state prosecutors initially asked for it to be set at $100 000
As part of their bail conditions, the trio must stay in Zimbabwe until their trial is over, and they have to report to the police once every fortnight.
They are accused of criminally defaming Robert Mugabe in their story last Friday which alleged the president commandeered a national airline plane to fly him around Asia for his annual vacation.
A trial date has not been set, but the men were warned to appear again in court on January 29 for a remand hearing.
The Zimbabwe Independent, which is privately owned, reported on Friday that Mugabe, who is on vacation, commandeered the wide-bodied Boeing 767-200 Air Zimbabwe aircraft to "ferry him around the Far East".
According to the article, although Mugabe and his family had flown to Malaysia from Johannesburg last week on a scheduled commercial flight, and had taken Air Zimbabwe to South Africa from Harare, he had called for his own plane while in Malaysia.
- AFP
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