Jeffrey Moyo, a Zimbabwean journalist with a US publication, New York Times, has been released after spending 21 days in custody.
Moyo was arrested on 26 May in Harare and charged with violating Section 36 of Zimbabwe’s Immigration Act by allegedly helping two New York Times journalists, Christina Goldbaum and Joao Silva, obtain false media accreditations.
He is also accused of securing fake accreditation credentials for them from the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) after conniving with an official from the regulatory body Thabang Farai Manhika, who also remains in jail.
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Speaking on the latest development, Moyo’s lawyer, Doug Coltart described his prolonged detention as illegal. He said:
_New York Times journalist Jeffrey Moyo has finally been released after 21 days in custody. His detention was characterized by a series of illegalities & violations of his constitutional rights including prison officials’ refusal to release him yesterday despite being granted bail._
_After detaining him for three weeks, the State has now essentially conceded on appeal that they have no case against Jeff and that the grounds on which they opposed bail in the Magistrate’s court were baseless._
The High Court freed him on bail on Monday but officers at the Bulawayo Central Prison were rejecting his warrant of liberation claiming it has an error.
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