Hopewell Chin’ono is an award-winning Zimbabwean journalist and filmmaker who has worked with the BBC, ITV News, and the New York Times. In 2008, Chin’ono won CNN’s African Journalist of the Year Award. He joined Harvard University as a Nieman Fellow the following year.
In 2020, Chin’ono published an expose alleging corruption in the administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. His reporting forced the government to fire the health minister, but also resulted in his arrest on baseless charges. Chin’ono was released on bail in September 2020, but re-arrested in November after being accused of contempt of court for exposing further corruption in Zimbabwe’s judicial system.
In January 2021 Chin’ono was arrested for the third time in six months on charges of “communicating falsehoods” that aimed to silence him. The law used by police to arrest him was later found to no longer exist.
