Zimbabwe's High Court throws out journalist's bail appeal

A Zimbabwean High Court judge has dismissed  a prominent investigative journalist's appeal against a lower court's ruling denying him bail.

Hopewell Chin’ono has been in remand prison since July 20 after he was arrested for allegedly using his Twitter handle to incite Zimbabweans to topple the government.

High Court judge Tawanda Chitapi on Thursday said Mr Chin’ono's lawyers had  made a procedural error by filling an application challenging his placement on remand instead of contesting the bail refusal.

In denying the journalist bail, a Harare magistrate had ruled that  the "accused has not yet accomplished his mission as the protests were penciled for July 13 2020."

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government deployed  security forces to thwart  the protests against corruption.

Several activists were arrested for taking part in the protests while others are still in hiding.

Critics say Mr Chin’ono is being  targeted for exposing corruption in the government's procurement of medical supplies to fight Covid-19.

Another investigative journalist Mduduzi Mathuthu, who broke a story about a $60 million dollar Covid-19 drugs procurement scandal that implicated President Mnangagwa's family, is in hiding after police  raided his home on the eve of the protests.

Police said they were investigating him for his alleged role in organising the July 31 protests.