The Crimes You Probably Do Not Know You Are Committing: Part 1

The worst place you want to find yourself is the police station as an accused person. It is much worse being asked very uncomfortable questions over a charge you did not know exists but apparently makes everything you were "innocently" doing, unlawful and attracting criminal penalties. As all crimes in Zimbabwe are against the state, you will have to undergo a prosecution for the offence you are charged with to prove and confirm your guilt. finally, if found guilty you will be sentenced accordingly and you can get either of a fine, community service, jail time all depending on the discretion of the magistrate. There are various categories of crimes and this article will deal with the crimes that are usually committed by citizens without their knowledge. It is important to note that ignorance of the law is not a defence and as such citizens have to be careful as to what they do and what they avoid to do. The article will not be exhaustive as to all the crimes, but will try as much to bring out the relevant crimes that one may find themselves in which are mostly common in certain situations.

1. DISTRIBUTING OBSCENE MATERIAL- Whatsapp

   The Digital age has brought with it the quicker and instant distribution of information, pictures and videos particularly through the social media platform called Whatsapp and Facebook. People are members of several groups that share various images and videos on a daily basis. The most common obscene material include: dead bodies from accident scenes, images and videos of revenge porn and in other instances purely pornographic material. Section 13 of the Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act [Chapter 10:04] prohibits the distribution of any obscene material. The author notes that there has not been much prosecution from Whatsapp on this charge and much needs to be done to educate the law enforcement agents as well as the public on their behaviour on social media. Probably the cybercrime and cyber security bill currently in parliament will finally spring the police into life.

2. JAYWALKING- improper road use by pedestrians

   Jaywalking is the loose term used to describe the conduct of pedestrians that cross the road from undesignated points particularly where there is a designated pedestrian crossing point within 150m of the pedestrian. The new Highway Code criminalises the conduct of crossing the roads by pedestrians from undesignated points such as zebra crossing marks or traffic lights intersections. The crime...