The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has arrested a 36-year-old man for allegedly peddling false information on social media during the nationwide lockdown. The accused, Lovemore Zvekusekwa, is being charged for contravening section 31(a)(i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
Confirming the arrest on their official Twitter account, the police said:
The ZRP confirms the arrest of Lovemore Zvekusekwa(36) for circulating false information meant to cause alarm and despondency during the COVID19 national lockdown. He is being charged for contravening section 31(a)(i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23.
This follows after Zvokusekwa’s alleged charge sheet found itself on social media on Monday afternoon. According to the charge sheet, Zvokusekwa was arrested for spreading a false government press statement on WhatsApp messenger. The circular alleged that President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a 13-day lockdown extension. However, in contrast to the fake statement, the president announced on Sunday that the lockdown would be extended with 2 weeks.
Read an excerpt from the charge sheet below:
“ALLEGATIONS During the month of April 2020, the accused person published a false Press Statement document purported to be issued and signed by President of Republic of Zimbabwe His Excellency Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa headlined, “EXTENSION OF LOCKDOWN PERIOD BY 13 DAYS ONLY The false press statement document was extending the lockdown period by 13 days from 20 April 2020 to 3 May 2020.
The arrest follows shortly after the president issued a chilling warning to individuals peddling fake news on social media. Speaking to state-media last week, the president revealed that he had tasked the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to track down the culprits responsible for spreading the false reports.
Mnangagwa also said that the government has crafted a law to bring fake news peddlers to book and if caught, the culprits should be slapped with not less than 20-years in prison.
Source: OccupyGh.com
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