An American citizen has been arrested in Zimbabwe for allegedly insulting President Robert Mugabe on Twitter. Martha O’Donovan was arrested on Friday morning, embassy spokesman David McGuire told Associated Press.
O’Donovan’s lawyer Obey Shava explained that the authorities blame Martha that she tweeted “We are being led by a selfish and sick man” from the Twitter handle @matigary. A photo of Mugabe with a catheter has allegedly been also tweeted by Martha. Shava added that the American citizen is charged with undermining the authority of or insulting the president.
“I deny the allegations leveled against me as baseless and malicious,” O’Donovan said in a statement.
According to the lawyer, O’Donovan had been working with local social media outlet Magamba TV. The target audience of the outlet is youth and it describes itself as “producing satirical comedy sensations.”
Social media posts were the main reason for last year’s anti-government protests, which were the biggest in the last ten years in Zimbabwe. Last month Mugabe appointed a minister for cyber-security. Activists said that the move was aimed at clamping down on social media users. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said O’Donovan was the first arrest since the new ministry was created. Two hundred people accused of allegedly insulting Mugabe have been represented by the group in the past few years.
“Concerned to hear of Martha O’Donovan’s arrest and ongoing detention. #Mugabe must stop arresting journalists #FreeMartha,” the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists tweeted.
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