Zimbabwean police arrested an American journalist working in the country's capital on Friday, accusing her of mocking President Robert Mugabe on Twitter.
O'Donovan works for Magamba TV, a local station, that has taken to Twitter to defend her, sending out tweets with the hashtags #FreeMartha and #ArrestUsAll.
She actually didn’t even RT this. Her last tweets are From February. #FreeMartha https://t.co/Uht3BhudVQ
"Most Zimbabweans do vent on social media about the state of the country, so if they arrest her for this they might as well arrest all Zimbabweans on social media," Munya Bloggo, who also started the hashtags, told BuzzFeed News. "I don't think anyone is exempt."
Tongia Makawa, the station's co-founder and project manager, told BuzzFeed News that his colleagues have been going through increasing levels of shock throughout the day.
As for why O'Donovan was arrested, Makawa speculated that the social media work that she performed for the station had made her a target. "In all honesty, I think the only thing that's separates her from the rest of the team is the fact that she's a foreign national," he said.
In their initial post, ZLHR — who have assigned one of their lawyers to defend O'Donovan — said that the police had arrested her for posting a tweet on her account that insulted Mugabe.
The alleged tweet from O'Donovan's account, which was locked as of Friday afternoon, "referred to a certain Goblin, whose wife and step sons imported a Rolls Royce vehicle," the post read. "However, the reported offensive and insulting tweet does not make any mention of the President’s name."
According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, she faces now two charges: insulting/undermining the president and "attempting to overthrow" the Mugabe government.
@MagambaTV She remains in custody, charged under Section 33 of #Zimbabwe's penal code for undermining authority/ins… https://t.co/WknlQhM2Sz
The latter charge carries a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison.
In a statement circulating on Twitter that O'Donovan allegedly signed, a different tweet altogether is listed as the justification for her arrest.
ZRP have finally charged @Martha_ODonovan accusing her of being @matigary & insulting Mugabe. Really?? #FreeMartha… https://t.co/BV3NocSiDm
In the statement, O'Donovan acknowledges that it is alleged that she "posted a message on Twitter using username @matigary which reads, 'We are being led by a selfish and sick man,' with a photo illustration showing that the President of Zimbabwe, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe is surviving on a Catheter."
“I deny the allegations leveled against me as baseless and malicious,” the statement continues above O'Donovan's signature, matching up with a description of the statement as reported by the AP.
According to her lawyer, Zimbabwean police claim the tweet in question, posted on Oct. 11, had been traced back to O'Donovan's IP address.
We are being led by a selfish & sick man @GomoDubi @tafadzwamarere @Busisa74 @caesarzvayi @mayor_justice… https://t.co/yNFOgROYsU
The tweet initially named as the reason for her arrest also came from the @matigary account.
Goblin gets ZRP to chase around street forex dealers, yet his step son & wife imported Rolls Royce Limos. The nonsense we Zimbos put up with
But the @matigary account has continued tweeting even as O'Donovan has been in custody, including this one.
This is CBZ Bank's core capital. If fined $385mln by @USTreasury , capital will b wiped out @CBZHoldings @mpofu_ben… https://t.co/cSkRJXJbtn
BuzzFeed News has reached out to the account on Twitter for comment.
Her arrest is the first since Mugabe appointed a new "Minister for Cybersecurity" that activists immediately feared would be used to crackdown on online criticism.
