Zuze convicted Mafuka for contravening Section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and sentenced him on 26 August 2010 to serve 12 months in prison. Three months were suspended for five years on conditions of good behaviour.
Mafuka was jailed for insulting Mugabe when he allegedly questioned two young boys for wearing campaign T-shirts with images of President Mugabe showing wrinkles on his face.
In a State case heard at the Chipinge Magistrate court, it was alleged that Mafuka whipped one of the young boys after telling the two boys that Mugabe was serving his last term in office and that Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai would take over from the ageing leader.
Mafukas lawyer Langton Mhungu of Matutu, Kwirira and Associates, who is a member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), filed an application appealing against both conviction and sentence and Mafuka was successfully granted US$100 bail.
Mafuka, who was initially detained at Chipinge Prison upon his conviction and sentence, was transferred to Mutare Prison. He is expected to be released from prison once the clerk of court from Chipinge Magistrates serves the Warrant of Liberation to the Officer in Charge of Mutare Prison.
Mhungu argued in his application for bail pending appeal against both conviction and sentence that a conviction and a prison term was not the proper verdict that Magistrate Zuze ought to have reached. The evidence of the State witnesses was not sufficient to warrant a conviction and that the sentence imposed against Mafuka was too excessive and would induce a sense of shock, argued Mhungu
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