CCC Spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere has been spared jail time after being convicted of spreading falsehoods but was ordered to pay US$500.

In passing his sentence, Magistrate Manuwere said "What mitigates this offence is that the accused is a female first offender and for the past 37 years she has been a law-abiding citizen, you have been on remand for almost two years, she underwent 10 days pre-trial incarceration and did not plan to commit this offence but was pushed by the videos circulating on social media".

However, he said that what aggravates this offence is that it has a penalty of not exceeding 20 years and that is a stiff penalty which means the offence is serious

Mahere was accused of publishing falsehoods in a case involving a woman whose child was erroneously reported to have been struck and killed by a baton-wielding Harare police officer who was enforcing the country's lockdown rules earlier during the month.

The mother of the child is Rebecca Musariri. Also charged with the same offence are CCC lawmaker Job Sikhala and government critic, Hopewell Chin'ono. ZRP refuted the claim and said the child at the centre of the storm was alive.

A video of the incident went viral last year with the mother wailing while holding onto a police officer who "allegedly assaulted her baby to death.