A Zimbabwean journalist appeared in court on Tuesday accused of inciting violence through an interview with a ruling party critic who criticised President Emmerson Mnangagwa and called for his resignation.
The arrest on Monday of Blessed Mhlanga, a high-profile journalist with the online Heart and Soul Television channel (HStv), has sparked new criticism of the government's intolerance of media freedom and opposition.
Police launched a nationwide manhunt for Mhlanga following his interviews with Blessed Geza, a stalwart of the ruling Zanu-PF and also a critic of the party, on January 27 and February 11.
Geza, a veteran of the country's liberation war that led to independence in 1980, said in the interview that Mnangagwa should resign. He also condemned a Zanu-PF faction that has reportedly mooted plans to change the constitution to allow Mnangagwa, 82, to contest a third term.
'Incited violence'
Police are also seeking Geza, who has reportedly gone into hiding.
Prosecutors said the journalist had incited violence through his interview and asked the court to detain him for 72 hours to allow for further investigation.
"If the accused is granted bail, he will interfere with witnesses," a prosecutor said.
Mhlanga's lawyer Chris Mhike denied the charges as trumped up, "unfounded and groundless."
'Journalism is not a crime'
"What happened to press freedom in this country? I am pained that I am standing in court defending a journalist's right to freedom of expression," he told the magistrate's court in the capital Harare.
Amnesty International condemned Mhlanga's arrest and called for his immediate release and the unconditional dropping of all charges.
"Journalism is not a crime, and media practitioners should be able to carry out their work without fear of reprisals," the international rights group said in a post on social media.
The Zimbabwe National Editors' Forum said it was "deeply disturbed and concerned" by the arrest, which amounted to harassment of a journalist doing his work "in the public interest."
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