Madanhire was released from police custody yesterday after his arrest on Wednesday together with senior reporter Patience Nyangove, who was freed on the same day.
Attorney Linda Cook said they face charges under Section 96 of the Criminal Code that deals with the publication of false statements prejudicial to the State, and communicating statements which undermine public confidence in law enforcement agents.
The editor is accused of defaming police after a June 26 article titled 'MDC fears for Timba's life' after police had taken Minister of State Jameson Timba into incommunicado detention over charges of calling President Mugabe a liar.
The paper referred to the head of the Law and Order unit Cris Makedenge, a well-known officer accused of masterminding myriad rights violations, as the "notorious Makedenge."
The Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe slammed the arrests. "VMCZ urges the police to resort to the Media Complaints Committee (MCC) to raise their concerns, objections and complaints on stories that they may deem unfair to their profession.
This is a civil matter and we do not understand how the police should come to handle the matter," VMCZ said in a statement.
Senior associate editor at Zimbabwe's Alpha Media Holdings , which prints The Standard, Iden Wetherell said it was disturbing that Madanhire and Nyangove were arrested hardly a week after police
commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri "congratulated the police for upholding the citizens' rights and freedom as set out in the constitution".
"It is evident that the freedom he referred to doesn't include the freedom of speech. It's unfortunate that the independent media still remains a target of the crackdown and our paper has been at the centre of the storm," said Wetherell.
Post published in: Zimbabwe News