The Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi has been granted $5 000 bail by a High Court Judge Joseph Musakwa. He is supposed to report to the police twice every day as part of his bail conditions.
As part of the stringent bail conditions, Justice Musakwa ordered Kudzayi to surrender the password to a Gmail account – [email protected] to investigating officer Assistant Commissioner Chrispen Makedenge.
Kudzayi must also surrender title deeds for his father’s house in Hillside as surety and he must report to Harare Central twice daily.
The court also barred Kudzayi from leaving the radius of 40km from Harare Main Post office without the permission of the court.
He should surrender his passport to the clerk of court and was warned against interfering with the investigation.
Police and the State believe that Kudzayi is the man behind the Baba Jukwa Facebook page. He stands accused of publishing falsehoods in an article critical of President Robert Mugabe and could face life imprisonment if convicted of the offences.
Kudzayi is also accused of conniving with his older brother Phillip Tawanda Kudzayi and others who are still at large to overthrow the Mugabe regime in the run-up to last year’s harmonised elections.
The State argues that a gmail account called [email protected] was registered using Tawanda’s mobile number before the creation of the Baba Jukwa Facebook account.
According to the State, Kudzayi and his accomplices allegedly planned and organised themselves to form what they termed the “Gunda Nleya Brigade” as well as the Zimbabwe Revolutionary Army with the aim to overthrow the government by waging a war.
The State also alleges that they had put in place a Dare Rechimurenga (War Council) to study the Zimbabwe situation during elections while also posting Facebook articles encouraging rebellion if the election was stolen.
On May 11 this year, the Sunday Mail published a story titled “Hackers unmask Baba Jukwa”.
However, police believe that Kudzayi was Baba Jukwa as he was in control of the Baba Jukwa gmail account.
In the second count, Kudzayi is being accused of publishing articles branding Mugabe a “dictator” in the full knowledge that the facts may not be accurate.
Prosecutor Tawanda Zvekare said the article falsely labelled Mugabe a dictator and tyrant who committed gross human rights abuses.
The article, according to Zvekare, stated that Mugabe stole the 2008 elections and that he presided over the country’s economic collapse.
Kudzayi was also found with four rounds of ammunition at his home while another nine rounds were recovered at his work office.
