Asked by Mupindu how he pleaded to the charges after they had been put to him by the state Mhambi said he denied the charges that he was found in possession of pornographic material.??
Mhambi, whose employer is the only representative body for homosexual people in the mainly conservative Zimbabwe, was arrested together with Ellen Chademana, an administrative assistant at GALZ last month at their Milton Park offices in Harare.
The two were charged with possession of obscene, indecent or prohibited articles in contravention of Section 26 (1) (b) of the Censorship and Entertainment Control Act chapter 10:04.
The police also charged Chademana and Mhambi with contravening Section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly undermining the authority of President Robert Mugabe although the charge was not initially raised in court.
The police allege that the GALZ employees displayed a plaque of former San Francisco Mayor Willie Lewis Brown Jr in their office in which the African-American denounces President Robert Mugabes homophobia against gays and lesbians.
Chademana will stand trial next Wednesday. The two accused are represented by lawyers from rights group Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).
Mugabe is known for his dislike for gay and lesbian people who he has described as worse than dogs and pigs.
The Presidents supporters and government agencies have fought to keep the country’s small homosexual community away from the public view most notably by barring them from advertising their way of life at public for a such as the Zimbabwe International Book Fair.
Earlier this year Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai publicly spoke out against homosexuality and said an exercise underway to write a new constitution for Zimbabwe should not be used to smuggle the rights of gay and lesbian people into the countrys fundamental law.
Post published in: News