A journalist for privately owned Heart and Soul Television in Zimbabwe, Mhlanga was arrested on 24 February on incitement charges for interviewing a war veteran who called for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s resignation.
Mhlanga was denied bail for the third time on 7 April 2025.
Zimbabwe’s record on human rights and democracy under the current regime has continued to spiral downwards, with growing political violence, evidence of rigged elections, and restrictions on civil society.
This month, the Zimbabwe regime signed Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO) Amendment Bill into law. This gives extensive power to monitor and control the operation of private voluntary organisations. For more on the wider attack on Zimbabwean civil society, read our report about the 2023 elections.
Last year, 78 people – the so-called ‘Avondale 78’ which included a schoolgirl and a baby – were kept in detention without bail for months after attending a peaceful private party. Just weeks later four human rights activists were marched off a plane, beaten up and tortured and kept for months without bail. Trade unions and labour rights are also under attack: this year student and university staff have also been targeted for exercising their rights, such as the MSU5.
Last year ACTSA wrote to Commonwealth President Patricia Scotland stating ‘grave concerns’ about Zimbabwe’s possible re-admission to the Commonwealth, from which the country was suspended in 2002 for human rights violations.
We stand alongside civil society in Zimbabwe and across the region and the world in solidarity with Blessed Mhlanga. Free Blessed Mhlanga.