Award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has been remanded in custody till Monday 11 January. The Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights report.
According to the publication, the magistrate ordered prison marshalls to remand him in isolation because he was in isolation after being in contact with a COVID-19 positive person.
ZLHR tweeted:
@daddyhope has been remanded in custody. The magistrate has ruled that prisons must ensure that he is remanded in isolation. He will appear at court on 11 January. His lawyers will continue with their application to challenge his placement on remand.
When Hopewell appeared before the magistrate lawyers raised several complaints against the police such as being denied right to promptly access lawyers and being removed from isolation as he had been in contact with some people who had tested + #Covid
Earlier the court has said they wanted to roll over the case to Monday because there was no time to conclude the bail hearing today. The state argued that Hopewell should be kept in prison since he is a suspected COVID-19 case and him being in prison will make sure everyone is safe.
Source: ZLHR Twitter