Thailand triumphs in UN Human Rights council bid

[rooster59]

Zimbabwe police charge U.S. citizen with anti-government plot

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

 

HARARE (Reuters) - A U.S. citizen was charged on Friday with attempting to overthrow the Zimbabwean government, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in jail, after police earlier accused her of insulting 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe.

 

Martha O'Donovan, who works for Magamba TV, which describes itself as Zimbabwe's leading producer of political satire, was picked up in a dawn raid on her Harare home, her lawyer said.

 

O'Donovan, who denies both charges, was expected in court on Saturday, lawyer Obey Shava said.

 

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba could not be reached for comment on the new, much more serious, charge.

 

O'Donovan was first charged with insulting and undermining the president, according to a police charge sheet, which accused her of last month calling Mugabe a "selfish and sick man" on Twitter, the first such arrest since the creation of a Ministry of Cyber Security last month.

 

That charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail, her lawyer said.

 

Shava said police then accused O'Donovan of setting up Magamba, being behind a "shadowy Twitter character" called @matigary and setting up another Twitter account @OpenParlyZw "for the sole purpose of overthrowing the government through unconstitutional means".

 

The government has been particularly uneasy about social media after activists such as pastor Evan Mawararire and his #ThisFlag movement last year used social media to organise a stay-at-home demonstration, the biggest anti-government protest in a decade. A national election is due in 2018.

 

The police search warrant showed that central to its investigation was a post on O'Donovan's Twitter feed referring to a "Goblin" whose wife and step-sons had imported a Rolls-Royce, an apparent reference to Mugabe, though he was not named.

 

In a statement to police seen by Reuters, O'Donovan said:

 

"I deny the allegations being levelled against me as baseless and malicious. That is all I wish to say."

 

The U.S. embassy in Harare confirmed an American citizen had been arrested and said it was monitoring the situation closely.

 

Shava said his client had refused to sign a new document known as a "warned and cautioned statement" with the fresh charge. The document sets out the government's case and signing it signals a suspect understands the charge.

 

She had signed the statement on the lesser charge.

 

Police seized her computers, cellphones and other electronic devices in the raid on her home.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-04

[Krataiboy]

 

May 20, 2016 Mugabe: I cling on to prevent US-led regime change - New Zimbabwe newspaper. November 4, 2017 A U.S. citizen was charged on Friday with attempting to overthrow the Zimbabwean government. - Reuters.    Nah, it's just my nasty, suspicious mind again!.

.

Edited November 4, 2017 by Krataiboy

[Srikcir]

Insults and satire leading to charges of overthrowing the government - that is one insecure government.

What's next - if people support an opposition party in elections will that be considered overthrowing the government?

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

 

May 20, 2016 Mugabe: I cling on to prevent US-led regime change - New Zimbabwe newspaper. November 4, 2017 A U.S. citizen was charged on Friday with attempting to overthrow the Zimbabwean government. - Reuters.    Nah, it's just my nasty, suspicious mind again!.

That country would be better off without him.  He's a horrible person. 

 

8 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The government has been particularly uneasy about social media after activists such as pastor Evan Mawararire and his #ThisFlag movement last year used social media to organise a stay-at-home demonstration, the biggest anti-government protest in a decade. A national election is due in 2018.

 

The police search warrant showed that central to its investigation was a post on O'Donovan's Twitter feed referring to a "Goblin" whose wife and step-sons had imported a Rolls-Royce, an apparent reference to Mugabe, though he was not named.

They are using this as a reason to go after this person.  As normal with brutal dictators, they gotta have a boogie man.  And look how many fall for it! LOL

[Krataiboy]

6 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

That country would be better off without him.  He's a horrible person. 

 

They are using this as a reason to go after this person.  As normal with brutal dictators, they gotta have a boogie man.  And look how many fall for it! LOL

Absolutely agree about Mugabe. Not sure about the "boogie" woman. Still, it's fun trying to connect the dots. And it will be fascinating to see what transpires.

[craigt3365]

6 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

Absolutely agree about Mugabe. Not sure about the "boogie" woman. Still, it's fun trying to connect the dots. And it will be fascinating to see what transpires.

This lady bad mouthed him on air and he's going after her.  He's trying to protect his dictatorship.  And needs a boogie man to do so.  Same as is done in Russia, North Korea, Iran....and Zimbabwe.

 

The most fascinating thing to see transpire would be for Mugabe to be replaced by a decent leader.  The people are suffering massively under him...have been for years.

[Sir Dude]

It's about time we heard about this idiot's obituary. That country has simply gone down the toilet.

[Krataiboy]

9 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

This lady bad mouthed him on air and he's going after her.  He's trying to protect his dictatorship.  And needs a boogie man to do so.  Same as is done in Russia, North Korea, Iran....and Zimbabwe.

 

The most fascinating thing to see transpire would be for Mugabe to be replaced by a decent leader.  The people are suffering massively under him...have been for years.

No evidence either way, but speculation is fun, isn't it?

[craigt3365]

13 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

No evidence either way, but speculation is fun, isn't it?

Not when it's constantly anti-US and borderline trolling....

[the guest]

I'd wish somebody would pop-off this monkey of a Dictator, he ruined the country!

[Krataiboy]

4 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Not when it's constantly anti-US and borderline trolling....

Now you've disappointed me by going back to your default position of being America's human shield. Ah, well. . . at least the boys at Langley will be pleased to see you are keeping their end up.

[Morch]

6 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

...they gotta have a boogie man.

 

Oh, alright then....

 

 

[Credo]

Well, at least she didn't try to influence the election.   

[bendejo]

I certainly wonder about Mugabe's relationship with World Health Organization

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/21/africa/zimbabwe-mugabe-named-who-goodwill-ambassador/index.html

 

The world has a "what the..." moment.  A few days later they take it back

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/22/africa/who--mugabe-controversy/index.html

 

Kind of like lauding Stalin for his breakthrough in population control.

 

And yes, he is not in the best of health.  I saw him on the news the other day, apparently he cannot walk without holding on to something.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2017 by bendejo

[craigt3365]

11 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Now you've disappointed me by going back to your default position of being America's human shield. Ah, well. . . at least the boys at Langley will be pleased to see you are keeping their end up.

I'm not America's human shield.  Just don't like people who constantly bash the US for improper reasons.  What's langley got to do with this?  I rest my case....LOL

[metisdead]

An off topic post about Venezuela has been removed.

[ilostmypassword]

15 hours ago, the guest said:

I'd wish somebody would pop-off this monkey of a Dictator, he ruined the country!

Calling a black African a monkey.  Where have we read this kind of thing before?

There are an infinite number of legitimate ways to condemn Mugabe. But you managed to choose a racist one. Congratulations.

Edited November 5, 2017 by ilostmypassword

[craigt3365]

9 hours ago, Credo said:

Well, at least he didn't try to influence the election.   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_general_election,_2013

Quote

Allegations were made in 2011, that a third of registered voters were dead or aged 120 (in a country with a life expectancy of 44).^[21] These accusations were repeated in 2013, with the additional claim that a considerable number of young voters had not been registered.^[22] The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), a local observer group with 7,000 monitors, listed a litany of offences, including state media bias, a campaign of intimidation in rural areas, and the rushed electoral process before key reforms to the security services were in place

 

[johna]

18 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Insults and satire leading to charges of overthrowing the government - that is one insecure government.

What's next - if people support an opposition party in elections will that be considered overthrowing the government?

We get the same thing here in the UK, its called Hate Speech.

[Krataiboy]

4 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

I'm not America's human shield.  Just don't like people who constantly bash the US for improper reasons.  What's langley got to do with this?  I rest my case....LOL

Look it up. Langley, Virginia, USA. Then put two and two together.

[craigt3365]

13 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

Look it up. Langley, Virginia, USA. Then put two and two together.

I knew I should have been more specific.  What's Langley got to do with this topic? 

[Srikcir]

14 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

Look it up. Langley, Virginia, USA. Then put two and two together.

That's where American Dad Stan Smith works!