Speaking
at
the
Geneva
Summit
for
Human
Rights
and
Democracy,
Mhlanga,
who
spent
two
and
a
half
months
in
harsh
pre-trial
detention
in
Zimbabwe
in
early
2025,
warned
that
the
flow
of
illegal
migrants
to
Western
countries
is
often
a
direct
consequence
of
political
repression
in
their
countries
of
origin.
Below
is
Mhlanga’s
statement:
“I
want
to
thank
you
very
much
for
having
me
here,
and
I’m
humbled.
For
25
years,
I’ve
been
reporting
on
stories
in
Zimbabwe
that
others
dared
not
touch.
That
has
been
my
work.“But
it
was
disrupted
last
year
when
the
Zimbabwean
regime
sent
me
to
75
days
of
horror—a
hell
in
pre-trial
detention
for
another
man’s
speech,
a
speech
made
at
a
press
conference
that
was
broadcast
at
a
TV
station
I
work
for.“This,
ladies
and
gentlemen,
is
the
new
face
of
repression
in
Zimbabwe,
laced
with
sophistication.
In
the
past,
it
was
naked
violence
on
the
streets,
abductions,
and
forced
disappearances.
This
has
changed.
It
is
now
violence
committed
through
the
legal
system,
what
I
call
‘lawfare’—violence
by
law.“In
February
2025,
the
regime
arrested
me
and
charged
me
with
transmitting
messages
likely
to
incite
violence,
even
though
I
had
no
involvement
whatsoever
in
this
alleged
crime.
I
was
denied
bail
three
times,
a
violation
of
our
Constitution.“The
state
deliberately
misled
the
court,
presenting
redacted
transcripts
that
were
deliberately
manipulated
to
support
their
allegations
of
violence
and
to
keep
me
in
prison
without
trial.“Today,
ladies
and
gentlemen,
I
sit
in
front
of
you
free,
but
not
free;
without
chains
in
my
hands,
but
chains
in
my
mind
and
pain
in
my
heart.
I
was
given
bail;
my
passport
was
taken.
Freedom
to
move
or
work
was
taken
away
from
me
under
bail
conditions,
crippling
my
finances.“The
regime
punishes
you
by
punishing
your
family.
It
hits
your
pockets
to
the
extent
that
your
children
suffer.
They
know
that
you’re
strong,
but
they
want
to
hurt
those
that
you
care
about
so
that
you
think
twice
before
doing
your
work.“Many,
as
the
stories
that
have
been
told
here,
think
Zimbabwe
is
turning
the
corner;
it
is
becoming
a
democratic
dispensation.
I’m
here
to
tell
you
that
no,
it
has
just
become
more
sophisticated
in
its
oppression.“Just
yesterday,
the
government
of
Zimbabwe
proposed
new
changes
to
the
constitution.
They
want
to
increase
the
presidential
term
from
five
years
to
seven
and
allow
the
president
to
appoint
judges
directly—an
unelected
president
appointing
judges.“For
a
president
who
promised
to
stick
to
the
constitution
and
respect
human
rights,
this
attempt
to
extend
terms,
appoint
judges
without
scrutiny,
and
steal
voting
rights
from
the
people
opens,
ladies
and
gentlemen,
a
very,
very
dark
door
which
must
scare
the
world,
the
UN,
into
action.“Because
when
repression
hides
behind
the
law
and
hides
behind
sovereignty,
the
poor
suffer,
and
they
are
forced
to
flee
from
their
home,
from
their
country,
as
refugees
into
your
homes—into
your
homes—and
you
call
them
illegal
immigrants,
and
you
push
them
out
violently.
But
it
is
because
of
your
silence
that
they
have
been
pushed
away
from
their
homes
that
they
love
so
much.“I
stand
here;
I
will
stay
in
Zimbabwe
regardless,
because
I
believe
in
my
country
and
I
love
it.
We
need
international
and
diplomatic
pressure
and
solidarity
to
protect
the
weak,
to
protect
the
poor,
and
to
protect
human
rights,
not
only
in
Zimbabwe
but
in
all
the
other
countries.“I
know
that
international
pressure
works
because
it
is
this
pressure
from
the
UK,
from
the
US,
and
from
the
EU
and
my
fellow
Zimbabweans
that
secured
my
release
on
May
7th.“The
fact
is,
Zimbabwe
is
not
democratising;
the
worst
is
yet
to
come.
And
as
a
journalist,
I
will
continue
to
tell
the
truth,
because
journalism
is
all
I
know
and
it’s
all
I
intend
to
do.“Oppression
in
one
country
has
consequences
in
all
other
countries.
It
breeds
instability
and
distability
to
citizens
whose
country’s
democracy
is
working
well.
It
is
like
COVID:
it
will
spread
to
everyone.
I
thank
you.”