Zimbabwe court dismisses case of U.S. woman charged with insulting Mugabe


HARARE - A U.S. citizen charged with attempting to overthrow the Zimbabwean government after police accused her of insulting then-president Robert Mugabe had her case dismissed by a Harare court on Thursday.


Martha O‘Donovan works for Magamba TV, which describes itself as Zimbabwe’s leading producer of political satire.

She was arrested in November in a dawn raid on her home in the capital after allegedly calling Mugabe, who was ousted in a bloodless coup a few weeks later, a “selfish and sick man” on Twitter.


O‘Donovan was first charged with insulting and undermining the president, and subsequently with subversion, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

O‘Donovan denied the accusations and had been granted bail in November by Zimbabwe’s High Court, which said there was “patent absence of facts” in the case and that the state could only bring her back to court when it had new evidence.  - (ANA) -

AB/ANA/04 January 2017 - - -