Zimbabwe journalist bailed after satirical article arrest
A Zimbabwean journalist was granted bail on Friday days
after she was arrested and accused of publishing a satirical article critical
of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Faith Zaba, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, was granted $200 bail and ordered to deposit her passport with the magistrates court in the capital Harare.
The 55-year-old was arrested on Tuesday on a charge of undermining the authority of the president, with prosecutors alleging an article titled "When you become mafia state" was false and designed to create hostility towards the leader.
She spent an extra night in jail after a nationwide power cut on Thursday delayed the court decision.
"The fears of the state have been allayed by the bail conditions which the defence agreed with," magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe ruled, adding that Zaba will report to the police every Friday.
She is expected to be freed later on Friday.
Rights groups have criticised the case, scheduled for hearing on July 29, as being part of a crackdown on political dissent and demanded the charges be unconditionally dropped.
Critics have long accused Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party -- in power since independence in 1980 -- of stifling both democracy and dissent.
Mnangagwa came into power after outmanoeuvring long-time ruler Robert Mugabe with a military-backed coup in 2017 and has presided over a collapsing economy marked by hyperinflation, unemployment and corruption allegations.
