telling. A record number of cases under section 33 were brought before the courts: Specific Cases Ÿ On 12 March the ZRP sentenced a police officer, sergeant Thompson Joseph Mloyie, to serve ten days in prison after convicting him for contravening paragraph 35 of the Schedule of the Police Act [Chapter 11:10], in a matter in which he allegedly accused former President Robert Mugabe of being “too old to rule” the country and questioning his marriage choice. Mloyie was arrested on 5 March 2016 at Cranborne Police Station by ZRP officers and charged with undermining the authority of or insulting the President in contravention of Section 33 (2)(a) of the Criminal Code. Ÿ The Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS)’s Chiredzi prison officer John Mahlabera was dismissed from employment after the ZPCS convicted him of misconduct for allegedly attending an MDC Alliance party rally at Tshovani Stadium in Chiredzi in Masvingo province on 10 June 2018, where he was invited to the podium by MDC-Alliance party leader Nelson Chamisa, who then introduced him to the opposition political party supporters. Mahlabera also answered to charges of undermining President Emmerson Mnangagwa through allegedly posting on his Twitter account that “Come to Chiredzi my president”, after an MDC-Alliance party rally held at Jerera Growth Point in Zaka in Masvingo province which was addressed by Chamisa. Ÿ William Gerald Mutumanje Lumumba, the leader of Viva Zimbabwe political party, was arrested on 30 June 2016 and charged with section 33 for accusing Mugabe of mismanaging the country’s political and economic affairs. On 7 June the NPA withdrew the charges on the basis that prosecuting him was not in the “public interest”. Ÿ In October 28-year-old Alexander Samuel Chidzedzere from Kariba stood trial after he was arrested and charged with undermining the authority of or insulting President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Chidzedzere allegedly said on 16 August at Nyamhunga Business Centre in Kariba that the President and his party had rigged to win the elections. Ÿ On 26 October, police cited the law to arrest Wisdom Mkhwananzi after he gave testimony at the 1 August Commission of Inquiry hearing at Rainbow Hotel in Bulawayo accusing President Mnangagwa of complicity in the government's killing of more than 20,000 people in the 1980s Gukurahundi massacre. Ÿ Joel Gabbuza, the MDC-Alliance MP for Binga South constituency, was charged with undermining the authority of, or insulting President Mnangagwa. Gabbuza appeared in court on 12 November for allegedly telling mourners at a funeral on 23 October at John Bwansula’s homestead in Manzasiya village in Binga, Matabeleland North province that President Mnangagwa's government was clueless in solving Zimbabwe's economic crisis, which was marked by fuel and drug shortages. Ÿ In Karoi, Flora Karosi a 46-year-old woman was summoned to stand trial on 4 December 2018 on charges of undermining the authority of or insulting the country’s ousted leader Robert Mugabe during his tenure as President. Karosi allegedly undermined and insulted Mugabe in July 2013 by questioning why the President was contesting elections with young candidates because he was too old. Prosecutors withdrew the charges after President Mugabe left office. 28 STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT ZIMBABWE 2018