A bogus cyber charge gets tossed after someone filmed a weird shrine. Activist Lwazi Khanye from the Mthwakazi Republic Party walked free after prosecutors dropped the case right before his hearing started, with his lawyer Nqobani Sithole present. The charge invoked the Criminal Law Act and the Cyber and Data Protection Act over a Facebook video he made.
That video just showed Khanye finding a photograph tied to a tree in a bushy, unofficial shrine area. The picture was bound with red cloth, wool strings, and needles. Leaders from that shrine filed a complaint, claiming the post cyber-bullied them and harmed their church's reputation. Prosecutors later reviewed the matter and deemed it inadmissible for the court, leading to the withdrawal.
Criminal Investigation Department officers still took his phone anyway, saying they needed to examine it. They told Khanye he might get summoned again if they found more evidence.
The MRP called the whole thing a win for constitutional rights. They stated the withdrawal proves the justice system should not be weaponized against free expression. The party vowed to keep fighting what they see as arbitrary arrests and the misuse of cyber laws against their members.
That video just showed Khanye finding a photograph tied to a tree in a bushy, unofficial shrine area. The picture was bound with red cloth, wool strings, and needles. Leaders from that shrine filed a complaint, claiming the post cyber-bullied them and harmed their church's reputation. Prosecutors later reviewed the matter and deemed it inadmissible for the court, leading to the withdrawal.
Criminal Investigation Department officers still took his phone anyway, saying they needed to examine it. They told Khanye he might get summoned again if they found more evidence.
The MRP called the whole thing a win for constitutional rights. They stated the withdrawal proves the justice system should not be weaponized against free expression. The party vowed to keep fighting what they see as arbitrary arrests and the misuse of cyber laws against their members.
