ALPHA Media Holdings (AMH) journalist, Blessed Mhlanga, who is currently in remand prison awaiting trial in a case he is accused of transmitting information inciting violence has said his incarceration has made him stronger.
His arrest Monday followed his recent interviews with his namesake, Blessed Runesu Geza, a firebrand war veteran currently challenging Mnangagwa's presidency. Geza is in hiding.
In a handwritten statement penned from his prison cell, Mhlanga who heads AMH's television channel, Heart and Soul, said he will take the lead in fighting for freedom of expression in Zimbabwe.
This Friday, he was denied bail by a Harare magistrate, who ruled that he was likely to interfere with investigations and reoffend.
Below is his full statement:
Over the last few days, I have learnt my lesson. I have learnt that freedom is free. It comes at a cost and sometimes a painful one.
I have learnt that free speech, free talk is not free and, therefore, we must never stop at anything to achieve it. It must be achieved in our generation, not the next.
It is clear to me that without acting we won't achieve anything so act we must. I will take the lead; therefore, I have instructed my lawyers to take action.
I have learnt that justice is a myth but just a tool used by those in power to entrench self. At law school Munyaradzi Gwisai told me that you can never understand law fully unless you understand its origins.
I fully agree, save to add that you will never fully understand it until it's applied to you unjustly and with impunity by the social elites.
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There is a mile of difference between writing about injustice and experiencing it. My friends and I now have the benefit of it both. L Madhuku says law is law coz its law. Just or unjust. My experience teaches me that an unjust law is no law.
Dear friends, prison is meant to break you. It is meant to change you. I have learnt quite to the contrary. Prison makes you more resolute. I am stronger and I identify more with you ever than before.
They say when you are arrested you are alone. That's not true. I was never alone; your voices were with me. I stood proud in the dark hours, my wife, my family were with me. I thank you.
To those behind my persecution, including prosecution aiding and abetting injustice, I wish to say the sun will set. It won't last forever. I am and I remain Dhara B.
