Masvingo man acquitted of using Mugabe poster as toilet paper

A Zimbabwean court has acquitted a man charged with intending to use a poster of President Robert Mugabe as toilet paper in a bar, his lawyer says. Prosecutors had accused Takura Mufumisi, 26, of violating election laws by destroying a campaign poster.

However, the court ruled that it had failed to prove its case. Mufumisi was arrested at a bar in the southern city of Masvingo less than a week before the election. He was acquitted by a magistrate’s court because of a lack of evidence, his lawyer, Shumba Phillip said.

“The state had one witness only, whose testimony was to the effect that he only saw the accused person in the toilet,” he added.

Another lawyer, Kumbirai Mafunda, said there were a growing number of cases of people accused of insulting Mr Mugabe.

“We believe this is an infringement of their freedom of expression,” he said.

In March, a senior member of Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, Solomon Madzore, was arrested after being accused of calling Mr Mugabe a “limping donkey” at an election rally. He denied a charge of insulting the president.