Top lawyer arrested for insulting President

A ZIMBABWEAN media lawyer has been arrested for allegedly insulting President Robert Mugabe while waiting to make presentations at the High Court last Friday.

Harrison Nkomo—who is being charged under Section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act—is accused of making “dangerous public utterances likely to cause disaffection” against the head of state.

Nkomo was detained by police after he was said to have remarked to a senior prosecutor—Michael Mugabe—to tell his "father" to step down. Other utterances were lodged in the four-page complaint filed by Mugabe.

Police say Nkomo’s statement—made during an informal conversation last Friday before a bail hearing for freelance journalist Frank Chikowore—demeans the office of the head of state.

He was arrested near his office in central Harare at 2:30 p.m. on May 7, 2008, and is being held at the Law and Order Section of Harare Central Police station.

Nkomo is represented by lawyer and president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, Beatrice Mtetwa, "They said those words undermined the authority of the president and were insulting Mugabe," said Mtetwa. “He denies making this statement.”

The law criminalizes criticism of the president, whether his person or his office.

Nkomo recently defended Barry Bearak, a New York Times correspondent arrested for working without accreditation on April 3, 2008 and held for four days before being deported.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement after his arrest.

“We’re extremely concerned about Harrison Nkomo,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “We ask Zimbabwean authorities to drop these charges and release him immediately. Nkomo has done a heroic job of defending the rights of journalists in Zimbabwe... We hope he can soon resume this vital work.”